Most managers will tell you that the toughest part of their job is firing someone. It’s an inevitable part of the job, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Of course, we’re not talking about firing someone due to unethical behavior, unlawful acts, or willful acts of disobedience. Those situations are relatively easy to handle with little or no stress. No, here we’re talking about having to fire someone who’s probably a decent person, who tries hard, but has somehow gotten into a job that is a poor fit with the person’s skills and talents. Maybe it’s a classic case of the person having been promoted beyond the level of his or her competence. Or maybe, the job was a good fit at the beginning, but as the demands of the job evolved and changed over time, it eventually became something that was no longer a good fit. Whatever the case, we’ve got someone in a job where they cannot be successful, and we’ve got to deal with that. This is the stuff that keeps managers up at night . . . in some cases, makes them physically sick . . . worrying about the termination conversation that has to come. If you’re such a manager, or work with someone who is, please read on. Maybe there’s a humane, less stress-inducing approach to this that will be helpful.
When was the last time you fired someone too soon?
If you’re being honest with yourself, there probably was no “last time” because you probably never have jumped the gun and fired someone too soon. It’s much more likely that you’ve put off firing someone longer than you should have. In fact, you may always procrastinate when faced with this unpleasant chore. If so . . . if you are a serial procrastinator . . . you’ve got plenty of company.
When we are forced to consider firing someone, we are often filled with self-doubt. We may ask ourselves, am I being too demanding? Have I given him or her enough time to raise their performance? Have I given this person as much training and support as I should have? On and on.
Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman are co-authors of a 1999 book titled, “First, Break All the Rules,” and sub-titled “What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently. In it, they talk about “tough love” as a tool great managers use to avoid all the self-doubt and hand-wringing. Here’s how it works.
First, take a look at the “tough” part of “tough love.” Great managers are crystal clear about the level of performance they expect, and they are uncompromising on that expectation. In other words, they hang “tough” on their performance standards. When someone is underperforming, they expect to see steady improvement, and they expect to see it sooner rather than later. The point is, if you’re convinced that your performance standards are fair and achievable, you should have the strength of your convictions and be unyielding in your demand that those standards be met.
The “love” part of “tough love” recognizes that the employee wants to perform well and is trying to perform well. As Richard Teerlink, former CEO of Harley Davidson observed, “People don’t come to work every day to do a bad job.” So when someone is underperforming, it’s probably not because they are being passive-aggressive or lazy or stupid, it’s more likely because their skills and talents are not a good fit with the job. Once a manager recognizes that, it starts to look like removing a good person from a situation where they cannot be successful is not an act of cruelty, but one of kindness. And it’s also an act of kindness to move swiftly rather than let a good person continue to live with failure day in and day out. In the best of all worlds, there would be another job within the company that would be a good fit for this employee, but whether there is or not, the current situation is intolerable and must end. Allowing it to continue or drag out . . . now that would be an act of cruelty.
The “tough love” approach doesn’t make it easy to fire someone, but it does create a mindset that allows you to move decisively, quickly, and humanely when it becomes necessary to do so..
Co-authors Buckingham and Coffman illustrate “tough love” with a story that I don’t know is real or made up, but I like it.
“Gary, an enormously successful entrepreneur, brought in one of his factory managers one evening and told him,’Come in, sit down, I love you; you’re fired; I still love you. Now get a drink and let’s talk this through.’ ”
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