A few years ago, a company president who had been hiring and firing for 22 years and was a long time client of ours shared one of the secrets of his successful managerial reputation. He told us that one of the major differences between a good manager and an excellent manager was NOT in the company he worked for, the type of business it was in, or the talent that he discovered or hired. The major difference, he claimed, was that he took more risks in hiring people, but he also FIRED more of them faster and quicker. His hiring style was pretty traditional: a few interviews, reference check, etc. He relied a lot on gut feel, which we all do. But the major difference was that he knew when to FIRE the right (or should we say wrong) people. His rule was very simple: You should fire someone when you first get the inkling!
Over the years his theory has proven correct. We don’t claim that it is easy or fun to fire someone. But how many of us have fired someone (or made it so difficult on the person that they quit right before they are fired, and after a few hours or days we ask ourselves why we didn’t do it sooner! This president, upon further questioning, revealed that he had had so many situations where he didn’t fire someone soon enough and then gone through the above misery of discovering he should have, that he conditioned himself to avoid the mistake of letting it go on and he fired… when he first got the inkling! Interestingly, this president’s reputation was based on his hiring such good people, that they were eventually promoted etc. In reality he hired more, fired more, but kept more of the best.
It’s Negative
Firing is negative. None of us wants to be fired, so we are reluctant to do it to others. We want to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, so we rationalize behavior. Even in the beginning of an employee’s tenure, there are duties, responsibilities, etc., they must do. They either do them or they don’t. If they don’t in the beginning, they won’t later.
After all that screening, interviewing, gut feeling, etc. we just hate to think we made such a mistake. We should admit our mistakes quickly and cut our losses early before they become blunders.
We also rationalize by thinking that although the person we hired has faults, we could end up getting other faults in someone else. So rather than go through the risky process of hiring someone else, we put up with it. Some faults, like continually being late, or chronically absent, affect the job function. Those types of faults can’t be tolerated. Everyone has faults; some make no difference in the day-to-day function of business, others are big indications of how the rest of the job is done. Decide what is objectively tolerable and what is not, and then stick to it!
The Process
The process of firing someone is unpleasant enough, but we are never sure of the shock that will occur throughout the office or the rest of the company. To avoid creating a disruptive furor throughout the firm, we have a tendency to put up with the employee. If that person is performing poorly, the furor is usually there anyway, and people wonder what you as a manager are doing about it. There’s always going to be repercussions no matter what happens. The sooner it is done and over with, the better.
Reasons for firing must be objective and documented. Most firms have policies and procedures on how to do it. Managers should know them BEFORE they undertake the firing process. With objective, fair, documented, informational warnings to the employee, being fired will not come as a shock. Telling an employee that “It’s just not working out” won’t cut it these days. Fair warning and a chance to correct any issues must be given. They must be communicated in an objective, businesslike, unemotional manner, always in writing. Counseling with upper management or even legal counsel may be in order.
Never Friday
Never fire on Friday or before a holiday. When a fired person is off on a weekend or holiday, he has the time to be mad, angry and resentful. If a person is fired on Monday, with the right guidance on the part of the employer, the ex-employee has the business time to take positive action to seek other employment. Even suggest a good recruiter for the employee. Help the ex-employee be proactive in his quest for a new opportunity. Contacting the recruiter beforehand, preparing him for the call from the soon-to-be ex-employee and telling the employee is an excellent way to ease the pain.
Be prepared by having hired someone to fill the position immediately. Managers who have screened and interviewed (from an off-site location) and hired a replacement for the fired employee can ensure a smooth transition, and the disruption over a lost employee on the part of the rest of the firm is subdued or nonexistent.
Tony Beshara is owner and president of Babich & Associates. Beshara has been in business since 1973, and he alone averages $2.5 – $4 million per year in billings. If you have any questions about this article, please call (214) 823-9999.
© Tony Beshara, Babich & Associates
