Managing terminations

From guest contributor Hanna M

Get Rid of Bad Employees Once and For All

The success of every business relies heavily on the performance of its employees. This is the reason why job applicants must undergo a thorough screening process before they will be given the chance to work in the company.  All newly-hired employees must start with being under a probationary period before finally being hired as regular employees.  However, once they get regularized some of these employees’ performance at work will start to wane especially after a couple of years.  This is when managers are faced with a daunting task of firing employees.  If you are faced with the same situation, might as well read the following guidelines on how to get rid of bad employees:

Arrange a “warning” meeting

Invite your employee to dinner or lunch with you. This will give you the chance to inform him about his performance at work. During this time, you have to explain to him that his performance is below satisfactory level and that you already have communicated to the human resources staff that his position in the company is already in danger.  He may rant as soon as he hears this but you should stay calm and composed.  But, never stop being authoritative about your decision to get rid of him.

Prepare all proof of the employee’s unsatisfactory performance

Ask your secretary to create a file that contains all the documents that would serve as an evidence of all his untoward behavior and unsatisfactory performance in the workplace.   You also have to include in this file the performance rating or evaluation of his direct supervisor.  This file must have a duplicate for the human resources staff to keep.

Carefully plan the date of termination

Come up with a definite plan of firing him. This plan must include the date, time as well as the location where you will tell him that he needs to say goodbye to the company.  During the actual date of termination, do not forget to bring with you one or two representatives from the human resource department to witness his termination.

Talk to the human resource manager

Have a meeting with your human resource manager and ask about the status of the employee’s benefits and insurance claims.  Ask about the date of his health insurance coverage, pension plans and any other unused leaves or vacations. Most of all, you have to ask the human resource manager about the details of computation for his last paycheck. See to it that everything is well documented and recorded.

Look for a private place for the “last” meeting.

For professionalism’s sake, make sure that you look for a private place where the meeting of the employee to be terminated will take place. This meeting has to be short and avoid showing any signs that you may change your mind and change your decision later. Tell the employee that you do not consider any negotiations and that your decision is final.  Once you have said everything that you need to, excuse yourself, go outside and let the human resource representative explain to the employee the details of his last pay, severance package and everything about his pension or insurance plans.

Hannah helps run the website, howmuchisit.org A website that helps people research the pricing on just about anything.