Every HR professional faces the inevitable need to terminate an employee. It is essential to have a plan in place and follow very specific guidelines about the incidents leading up to the termination and the actual termination meeting. In this article, MedZilla asks the experts to provide important tips on best termination practices that help employers avoid lawsuits and other negative consequences.
Contact: Michele Groutage
Company: MedZilla, Inc.
Title: Director of Marketing & Development
Phone: 360-657-5681
Email: mgroutage@medzilla.com
URL: http://www.medzilla.com
11 Things to Remember About Terminating Employees
Marysville, WA 9PRWEB) August 29, 2003 -- The three worst pieces of news a person can hear are about the death of a loved one, loss of a job or divorce. So, when youre firing someone, youre delivering the second worst message, says Emory Mulling, Chairman, Mulling Companies, an outplacement, executive coaching and retained search firm
And with the bad news can come anger, grief—even a law suit, says President and CEO of MedZilla.com, Frank Heasley, PhD. MedZilla.com is a leading Internet recruitment and professional community that targets jobseekers and HR professionals in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and science. Weve heard the horror stories from MedZilla clients about terminations gone bad. Its important to plan for the inevitable termination and have best practices at hand. So, we asked the experts what their top suggestions would be."
Tip 1: Assume that everyone coming to work for you will someday have to be terminated, says Thomas K. Johnston, president, Worldbridge Partners, an executive search firm that specializes in disease management and pharmaceuticals. If you assume this, youll take the time have a plan in place for terminating employees. This planning might include some kind of employee-employer agreement, such as a noncompete or nonsolicitation, to spell out what happens should that employee be terminated. These agreements, when they can be held up in court, help to ensure that employees who leave or are asked to leave do not hurt the business by taking away clients or information, Johnston says.
Johnston notes: HR professionals should make sure to update the agreements throughout employees' careers with a company so that they reflect their current status when they leave.
Tip 2: Track performance in a standardized way, Johnston says. Every company should have a standard internal policy letting employees know how the company will track their performance and what their performance is expected to be. This might include information about how to treat other employees, including sexual harassment issues. It should also include the policy for dealing with those who do not meet the companys performance requirements.
Tip 3: Document, document, document. Therese A. Hoehne, SPHR, director of human resources at Aurora University, Aurora Ill., writes that employers should be sure that termination is the appropriate action. Thorough documentation helps to make better decisions and comes in handy should an employee seek legal options.
If the termination is for performance issues, an employer should ask if it has made an effort to counsel the employee, provided training and made the employee aware of the performance deficits. Of course, in the case of theft or other obvious violation of the employer-employee relationship no initial counseling is necessary, as long as the organization's policies have been disseminated, and they specify that major infractions such as theft are grounds for immediate termination. Johnston notes, Termination should never come as a surprise to the employee."
Tip 4: Set up a formal meeting and make sure a witness is present (usually a fellow HR professional) to terminate the employee, Mulling says. Make the appointment for the next day. Dont lie about the reason for the meeting. If the employee asks, Mulling suggests saying, We will discuss some issues that involve our department. I need to get some information to you." If the employee probes more, you can say, Lets wait until our meeting and Ill discuss it with you then."
Tip 5: Prepare for the meeting by having details on why the person is being terminated. You need to prepare this with your HR department so it is within the guidelines of the company," Mulling says.
Tips 5 through 10, offered by Mulling, have to do with conducting the termination meeting:
Tip 6: Tell the employee upfront that he is being terminated. Be factual and brief. You dont need to be apologetic, argue or lose control. If you go into detail, the employee will start to argue with you, Mulling says. If you start arguing and [the employee] gets angry the termination session is a total failure."
Tip 7: BRIEFLY explain severance pay, continued benefits, work completion and outplacement assistance. Dont get into detail. They will not listen. Some are in shock.
Tip 8: Tell the employee when and how to get her personal belongings. Mulling suggests employers allow employees to clean out their desks after hours or when other employees are not in the area.
Tip 9: Provide details concerning project completion, personal effects and company property. Get the keys, security cards, computers, phones, credit cards, computer passwords.
Tip 10: If the organization has an outplacement consultant, introduce the terminated employee to that person and leave the room. If not, end the meeting at that point. The whole meeting should last no more than 4 to 5 minutes, Mulling says.
Tip 11: Stick to the mission at hand. Final donts are: Dont give employees false hope and say youll help them find a job. Dont say, Im sure your not going to have any trouble." Dont pass the buck and say this firing was not your idea. Dont give platitudes and say, Youll feel better when you sleep on it." Finally, dont say, I feel really bad about this." Saying these things only makes the situation worse, Mulling says.
About MedZilla.com
Established in mid 1994, MedZilla is the original web site to serve career and hiring needs for professionals and employers in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, science and healthcare. MedZilla databases contain about 10,000 open positions, 13,000 resumes from candidates actively seeking new positions and 50,000 archived resumes.
Medzilla® is a Registered Trademark owned by Medzilla Inc. Copyright ©2003, MedZilla, Inc.
Permission is granted to reproduce and distribute this text in its entirety, and if electronically, with a link to the URL www.medzilla.com. For permission to quote from or reproduce any portion of this message, please contact Michele Groutage, Director of Marketing and Development, MedZilla, Inc. Email: mgroutage@medzilla.com.
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