| Firing an employee can be tough for some people. Even if he or she is the worst employee imaginable, you will still find yourself reluctant to fire that worker. But to be an effective employer, you will eventually have to let an employee go. A bad employee can exhaust not only the morale of the other employees, but eventually the profit and efficiency of your company. You cannot compromise like this, and therefore you must know the proper employee dismissal techniques. Dismissal Techniques Before you decide to swing the proverbial ax and let a bad employee go, you should have valid and legal reasons for doing so. These reasons should be communicated to the employee along the way. If you can't explain your reasons in a professional, non-emotional way to the employee, you should question how legal they are. For example, "the employee made me angry" is not a good reason. Imagine explaining how you fired someone for this reason to an impartial jury in a courtroom. It wouldn't sound convincing. However, if you terminate an employee because they constantly miss project deadlines, this is reasonable and unbiased. Finally if you feel the need to fire the employee because of many small incidents, you should attempt to isolate the underlying reason behind these reoccurring problems. When you sit down to let the employee go, you should be sincere, but professional. Explain the reasons why you must dismiss him or her. This will justify your actions and create an undisputable basis, as well as provide the employee with a way to get his act together for future jobs. Besides total honesty, when letting an employee go, you need to be firm in your decision. When you are telling the employee of your reasons for letting him go, he may get the idea that you are just "warning" him. Make it clear there won't be any second chances for the employee to change his ways. There is no negotiation. His job is over. This may seem cruel, but it is necessary to avoid any misunderstandings. It is best to make it clear the employment is over, rather than prolong the agony. Wish the employee good luck in all future endeavors, and that will be the end of it. The first time you fire an employee, you may be just as nervous as he was at the job interview. It is an intimidating action to do at first, since you are sending a fired employee into unemployment. This is why you need to be sure of your reasons to fire the employee. If you are sure that this person is creating a poor work environment or detracting from the goals of your business, then you shouldn't hesitate to let him go. Once you have fired one employee, you will realize that it isn't as hard as it seems. I hope you won't need to use your newfound skills too many times in the future, but it's something any manager will need. |
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