When you have an under-performing employee, it's necessary to take the right measures before placing them on the chopping board.
“You’re fired!”
Words that many employers dread to think about, but which some have to say at least once in their lifetime. But when a poor performing employee is on your hands, you can’t afford to waste your time or money by keeping them around.
However, before send them packing, you need to ensure you’re taking the right steps to fire your employee. Get it wrong and you could cause an uncomfortable situation for both you and your employee, or worse still, legal issues that could have a major effect on the business.
No nasty surprises
First and foremost, you need to inform your employee way ahead of time if you think that you need to let him or her go. If your employee is not meeting their expectations, it’s your responsibility to let them know about your feelings as soon as you feel they are underperforming. Of course no one likes a micromanager. But in the same vein, no one wants to be taken by surprise... certainly not in this situation. The more frequent the dialogue between you and your employee, the greater the room for trust and respect.
Next time, have a meeting with your employee and make them aware of their poor performance. However, be sure to frame the setback in terms of the team and company’s performance. In this way, it’ll feel less like a personal attack and more of a commitment to their professional development.
Read: How to deal with poor performing employees
Highlight and assert the consequences
While at times you may be able to get through to your employee, at other times your feedback and direction may fall on deaf ears. At this stage, it’s time to get HR and/or your boss involved. You need to let them know what’s going on and review your company’s employee handbook.
You’ll have to start putting things down in writing. You’ll need to clearly explain the performance issue, ensuring that you make reference to specific examples and dates to back up your claims. Then draw up a roadmap for improvement, outlining clear steps your employee should achieve.
Thereafter, you need to give your employee a warning and let them know that the consequences of their poor performance are closing in on him or her. Make sure you reiterate the consequences that may result should they continue to perform poorly in the future.
Call in another meeting
If after all the meetings and the warnings your employee still doesn’t deliver, it’s time to have the talk. By now your employee should be fully aware of what’s coming their way – so much so that you may find that some employees will hand in their resignation letter without your doing. However, if you do find yourself in a place where you have to send them packing, this is how you can go about it:
1. Arrange a final meeting and have someone from HR or someone in a higher position than yourself to sit in the meeting with you.
2. Prepare a script so that you stay on track during the meeting. Make sure that HR is also up to date with the script
3. Keep the meeting short and make it clear that you’ve come to a conclusion and it’s irreversible.
Read: 2 employees you need to fire immediately
4. Lay out all their options, such as details of their pension fund, medical aid, and finally their salary.
5. Let them leave as soon as the meeting is over. You can schedule a time when they can come in and collect their things.
As a final note, you can of course have empathy. Thank your now former employee for their contribution, but do not sugarcoat anything. You’ll probably feel crappy about having to do the dirty work, but keep the situation in perspective.
Firing someone will come with its challenges. But unlike other tasks which you may be able to duck and dive from, firing an employee is sometimes necessary. So make sure you prepare well and give a considerable amount of thought to the process. Once the ugly process is over, remember you can find a new superstar employee on Careers24 Recruiters page.
