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More than 60% of Americans, nearly 200 million people, dislike change according to a Forbes poll. That means if you feel any amount of fear or anxiety regarding any kind of organizational change, you’re not alone.
In the same vein, you probably do not look forward to firing an employee. Letting go of employees can prove difficult for new entrepreneurs and veterans alike.
Are there a set of firing best practices? Do you as an employer need to give two weeks’ notice to an outgoing employee? Let’s explore these and other questions.
Firing as a Last Resort
Most in the American workplace understand the principle of giving two weeks’ notice as a professional courtesy before resigning from work. The same standard does not always apply on the other side, however.
In the ideal case, firing an employee should follow an exhaustive effort of all other options. The reason is simple: employees are an important investment.
Prominent writer Stephen R. Covey said, “Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” This principle comes from the fact that we need people to run any kind of an organization.
In simple terms, hiring represents a significant investment of both time and money. Insufficient manpower can drastically drag down the productivity of your business and shoo customers away.
The interim period before you fill an employment gap can prove financially, physically, and mentally taxing.
As a result, new hires usually bring some amount of excitement. Hiring often comes as a product of growth.
What may get neglected, however, is commensurate training. A shining new hires’ resume does not guarantee proficiency.
The first question to answer is thus: did you truly do everything in your power to equip your employee with the necessary tools and knowledge to do the job?
If not, spending the time and resources to properly train and educate your employee can cost a lot less in the long run than looking for a replacement.
The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) provides additional insight regarding the firing dilemma. GWC stands for Get It, Want It, and Capacity and represents an EOS framework on which employers can assess if an employee is truly fit for a given position.
Remember that you hired your employee for a reason. If that reason does not justify further efforts to help and develop an employee, you may need to re-examine your business’ current hiring practices.
Reasons for Firing an Employee
The previous section assumes productivity as the reason for firing an employee. In some cases, firing an employee represents the only acceptable option.
Let’s dive into some scenarios for firing an employee.
Breach of Company Values
Some actions warrant a zero-tolerance policy approach. These cases may involve prejudice or discriminatory behavior.
If you ever come across an employee that demonstrates racial, sexual, or other discriminatory hate, the best practice is to just get that person out.
One of the quickest ways to kill any organization is for people to disseminate evidence of any kind of hate.
Notice that statement does not specify a type of hate. People can start to disassociate from your business if an employee abuses anyone with no consequences.
Abuse can take on a wide variety of forms, including sexual harassment and engagement in illegal activity. We hope it never happens but must remain prepared for any eventuality.
In cases that do not involve discrimination, you may want to pull the offending employee to the side and probe into why the incident occurred. Perhaps the employee had a rough confrontation with an ex.
Explosive incidents coming from an employee’s personal life may warrant a reaction other than immediate termination.
Excessive Absence
Does someone always call in sick on Mondays? Does someone leave early on Fridays? Why does this person always have doctor’s appointments?
It happens more than we may like – truant or absent employees.
Depending on the situation, you may find alternate methods to firing an employee. Perhaps you may want to institute a formal paid time off policy
In obvious cases of laziness and blatant disregard, just do your business a favor and let go of an employee who often fails to show up for work. They may not really mind immediate termination anyway.
Extenuating Cases of Absence
Absence does not always come from laziness or lack of commitment. Under unusual circumstances, you may find some employees who need to miss work for extended periods of time.
These cases can involve significant medical diagnoses, childbirth, or sudden personal emergencies. Difficulty can arise when you face the fact that extenuating cases can encompass a massive range of events.
You will need to communicate effectively to find the ideal solution to an extenuating case. If an employee is lying about an extenuating case, you must find a non-invasive method that protects you while respecting the privacy of the employee.
If an employee had a sudden development, such as cancer or the death of a family member, you will need to find out what happened in a respectful manner. Do not let assumptions without evidence cause you to lose an otherwise hardworking employee.
These cases rarely have one single best practice. Do you let go of an employee with terminal cancer? Do you fire an employee who suddenly assumed responsibility for a bunch of nieces and nephews?
To provide an extremely broad answer, you may want to let the employee make the decision and prepare for the worst case.
This type of situation may interact heavily with the type and quality of relationship you have with the employee. If you value this relationship, you will want to approach any communication in a tactful and patient manner.
Clash of Personalities
Hardworking and productive employees can still cause or engage in workplace problems. Perhaps two employees just do not like each other. Maybe an employee communicates in a way that aggravates you.
Patience is key. You do not want a disgruntled employee making a scene and accusing you of being an immature boss that fires people you don’t like.
Just like a one-star review on Google, one instance of negative feedback can cause droves of prospective employees to pass you by in favor of another company.
Instead, try to make the situation and the resulting decision as objective as possible. You will want to use language that appeals to the team and about the workplace dynamic.
Approaching these types of conversations from this angle can protect you and allow you to defend yourself in a way that does not seem like a “he said – she said” argument.
If you try to approach an employee in this manner and do not resolve the conflict, you may want to pursue termination.
To Give or Not To Give Two Weeks’ Notice
Employee termination can sometimes warrant an easy, black-and-white response. Other times, there may not be a right answer.
The black-and-white responses are easy. Racial hate, sexual abuse, and criminal behavior all represent instances that justify immediate termination. Giving two weeks’ notice may even falsely communicate that you condone or even support this kind of behavior.
Furthermore, lazy employees who never show up to work may not warrant two weeks’ notice, either. Such employees will not appreciate your gesture and may not even honor it.
This case rings especially true for sales positions. In most companies, the sales process moves quickly and does not leave space for organizations to waste time.
As a result, you need to also consider the job type and responsibilities for the employee at hand. How difficult is it to replace the skills and qualifications of the given employee? How much time did you spend with the employee in the onboarding process?
These questions can help guide you to finding an appropriate response.
Other cases may involve a more extensive decision-making process. They may necessitate detailed assessments that weigh the costs and benefits of your possible approaches.
Helpful Approaches
You will not always find the best solution alone. Especially if you have a positive relationship with the employee, speaking with them on the issue not only can present a solution, but can also convey trust.
Let’s dive into some methods of informing your termination decision.
Active Listening
If you decide to have a conversation with the employee, active listening is your best ally. In a large number of cases, you may find that just listening to an employee can resolve a conflict.
This phenomenon can occur when employees’ productivity and attitudes suffer from circumstances stemming from their personal lives.
Listening communicates to the other party that you care. Even in the cases where termination still remains as the only option, listening can maintain a positive relationship.
These cases may end up with the employee returning to their position after the emergent problem is resolved.
Barring all these outcomes, listening demonstrates your capability as a leader and a communicator. These qualities will not go unnoticed, building a positive profile for prospective employees to desire your business as a workplace.
Probation
If a conversation does not yield a clear answer, you may opt for a type of probationary period. You may come up with a different name, but such a period essentially represents a time of close scrutiny.
An employee that suffers decreased productivity may warrant a probationary period where you examine their workplace practices. Doing so may inform you on reasons for productivity losses.
Another employee faced with increased personal stress factors may also warrant such a period. This period can allow you and the employee to evaluate their ability to manage their work under the given circumstances.
Your implementation of this method may call this two weeks’ notice, or something else.
Exit Transition
Sometimes, termination still represents the only real option. In cases that do not involve breaches in company values, two weeks’ notice or longer notice can mutually benefit both parties.
On your end, two weeks gives you a minimum period of time to find a suitable replacement. During this time, your business will likely suffer fewer losses in productivity, making for a smoother transition.
On the other end, two weeks also allows the employee to find another employment opportunity. Giving notice serves as a statement of respect that can help positively contribute to a good image for your business.
Conclusion
As a business owner, you must remain at the top or ahead of the curve as much as possible. The key point involves respect and tactful communication.
At the end of the day, employees and employers are human. Remembering and honoring this simple fact can do wonders in building a genuine and powerful company image.
A positive organizational image can significantly help attract new talent when employee termination becomes necessary. With that said, termination often imposes difficult decisions.
Remember that any matter involving people rarely has a one-size-fits-all solution. Consider all of the surrounding factors, such as your industry type, the employee’s job duties, and the turnaround for your hiring process.
The hard part surrounds how you stay on top of everything and remain informed on your employees’ situations and issues.
Thankfully, today’s business owners have a wide range of tools available to help measure and observe employee practices in the workplace.
As a powerful, yet intuitive time tracking tool, TimeClick allows employers to generate accurate reports on just about anything time-related.
Do you want to see if and when employees clock in late or early? Want to know if your employees are using PTO incorrectly? Want to check if an employee exceeded their allowances?
These represent just a few of the questions you can answer with flexible reporting and customizable timesheets.
Best of all, you can try all of this out at absolutely no risk. TimeClick offers a free fourteen-day trial with full access to all of its top-rated features.
For more information or for any questions regarding employee time tracking, contact us at (435) 753-4102 or at sales@timeclick.com.