How to fire an employee tactfully - without offense or misunderstanding

Talking about dismissal is not the most pleasant topic for both the person who has to leave and his immediate superior. If you are the one who has to make a decision about parting with an employee, you should prepare in advance for a conversation with him. This is necessary so that you can part without offense or mutual accusations. Let's figure out how best to plan and conduct a conversation that is important for both.

What to do before talking to an employee

Before the meeting, make sure the person has had a chance to correct the situation. And you told him about what responsibilities he couldn’t cope with, what tasks he couldn’t finish on time. We also discussed in detail how to improve the situation, what needs to be changed for this and how exactly to do it.

If not, you should start from this point. Try giving the candidate for dismissal another chance. Perhaps he will be able to change his approach to work and begin to act more efficiently. And you don’t have to waste time and money searching for a new employee and his adaptation.

But if the person did not take advantage of the chance or you are convinced that his skills are clearly lower than necessary, get ready to part ways.

When to have the resignation conversation

There are different opinions on what day and time you should schedule a conversation. Some believe that it is better to do this on Friday evening, before the end of the working day. In this case, the employee will not be able to discuss the situation with colleagues for a long time and share grievances with them. And over the weekend he will calmly think about the situation, cool down and be able to Monday start looking for a new job. Of course, not to the detriment of the things he will have to finish before leaving.

Others argue that if you made a decision at the beginning of the week, you shouldn't wait until Friday to tell the employee about the breakup. Tell us about it the same day or the next day.

Then none of you will waste time: you can immediately start looking for a new person, and the person being fired can immediately start looking for a new job.

Yes, in this case, after talking with you, the employee can begin to discuss his dismissal with colleagues. And do not hold back negative emotions: resentment, bewilderment, rage. But don't be afraid of it. Having let off steam, he will calm down.

And his colleagues are adults and are able to decide for themselves how to manage their working time and whether it is worth spending it on emotional but useless conversations. Most likely, they will sympathize with the fired person and quickly switch to current tasks. And the topic will be closed.

Therefore, plan the meeting so that it is convenient for you. And inform the employee about it in advance - at least half an hour or an hour in advance. This way he will also have time to prepare.

How to properly structure a conversation about dismissal

Allow about 20 minutes for the conversation. This will be enough time for you to present all your arguments, and for the employee to understand what is happening and discuss with you the completion of the work and the transfer of business.

Immediately communicate the purpose of the conversation

Calmly tell us about your decision. If you previously discussed the problems that the employee faced, as well as ways to solve them, then this conversation will not come as a surprise to him.

Perhaps he will try to start a conversation himself and start talking right away about what he is doing now and why he is not succeeding. Listen to him and tell him that the decision has already been made and it is final. Maybe this is for the better, because all current problems will remain in the past for him.

State the reasons for dismissal

In a conversation, it is better to refrain from strong emotions and focus on facts. Remind that you have already discussed both troubles and ways to overcome them. And together we even outlined a plan to get out of a difficult situation.

Surely you have recently wondered how your employee is doing and how successful his attempts to cope with difficulties are. So you have something to say about his bad experience. Note what exactly you were not satisfied with at work.

If some of the employee’s skills turned out to be weaker than expected, show this with specific facts.

For example, a company produces sports equipment, and you are the head of its department. sales. It's the height of the winter season, but your hockey sticks aren't selling well. The employee had to analyze what shortcomings customers noted most often. And suggest how to fix them.

But he did not present a clear report and did not voice any specific ideas - he got off with general words. Therefore, you don’t have a clear idea why the demand for your clubs drops in winter, while all your competitors increase.

Perhaps in response you will receive bewilderment, misunderstanding and resentment. But it will be difficult for a person to argue with the facts.

Discuss what the employee will do on the remaining working days

Most likely, the person will need to delegate matters to others in your department. For example, in the case of clubs, he should send all the collected information to another specialist, and he will analyze it and offer solutions.

If the person being fired is a service manager clients, he will have to tell the task recipient in detail about each current project. And also about the people who conduct business on behalf of clients, about the dates by which the current stages of work need to be completed, about important agreements with contractors. There are many important details in every project that the successor should know about. Don't forget about them.

Discuss all the tasks that need to be completed and set target dates for this.

It would also be a good idea to send the person being fired a message to messenger or an email listing all the points of your agreements and the deadlines for completing each task. It seems like a small thing. But it will help the employee more accurately complete everything planned and not forget about something important. In the end, this will benefit your company.

Another important point: discuss whether the person being dismissed can perform test tasks for new vacancies and go for interviews during this period. There is no single solution here. If you think that a person will have time to look for a new job without compromising his current one, why not. If you are sure that the employee will not be able to combine two different things, let him start looking for vacancies after dismissal.

Give the employee objective feedback on the results of his work

Surely there were work situations in which the person being fired was at his best. He definitely has skills in which he is strong, otherwise you would not have hired him in the first place. You can suggest what skills he should develop and which ones to rely on in order to develop career further.

It is worth placing a separate emphasis on weaknesses. Advise what the employee should learn and what skills to improve. Perhaps in the future he will be able to rise to a higher level and learn to solve those problems that now turned out to be too difficult.

If you think it necessary, tell the person being fired where he should Looking for a job, suitable for his current level.

Thank the employee for working together

Yes, it may sound strange - you fire a person and say thank you. But during his work he definitely did something important and worthy of gratitude. For example, I came up with a great design for a popular website or online store. Or maybe he conducted a successful advertising campaign, after which doubtful clients decided to continue cooperation. Or wrote for a public in social network a post that brought many new customers.

You have already talked to him about why the fired person could not repeat his success. Try to note something good too. Who knows - maybe after a year a person will gain experience, develop important skills, and then want return to your company. Such cases do happen.

If he retains pleasant memories not only of work, but also of relationships in the company, you can get a valuable specialist. But even if you no longer work together, good reviews from a former employee are unlikely to hurt you.