Most managers will tell you that the toughest part of their job is firing someone.\u00a0 It\u2019s an inevitable part of the job, but that doesn\u2019t make it any easier.\u00a0 Of course, we\u2019re not talking about firing someone due to unethical behavior, unlawful acts, or willful acts of disobedience.\u00a0 Those situations are relatively easy to handle with little or no stress.\u00a0 No, here we\u2019re talking about having to fire someone who\u2019s probably a decent person, who tries hard, but has somehow gotten into a job that is a poor fit with the person\u2019s skills and talents.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s a classic case of the person having been promoted beyond the level of his or her competence.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Whatever the case, we\u2019ve got someone in a job where they cannot be successful, and we\u2019ve got to deal with that.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 If you\u2019re such a manager, or work with someone who is, please read on.\u00a0 Maybe there\u2019s a humane, less stress-inducing approach to this that will be helpful.<\/p>\n
When was the last time you fired someone too soon?<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019re being honest with yourself, there probably was no \u201clast time\u201d because you probably never have jumped the gun and fired someone too soon.\u00a0 It\u2019s much more likely that you\u2019ve put off firing someone longer than you should have.\u00a0 In fact, you may always procrastinate when faced with this unpleasant chore.\u00a0 If so . . . if you are a serial procrastinator . . . you\u2019ve got plenty of company.<\/p>\n When we are forced to consider firing someone, we are often filled with self-doubt.\u00a0 We may ask ourselves, am I being too demanding?\u00a0 Have I given him or her enough time to raise their performance?\u00a0 Have I given this person as much training and support as I should have?\u00a0 On and on.<\/p>\n Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman are co-authors of a 1999 book titled, \u201cFirst, Break All the Rules,\u201d and sub-titled \u201cWhat the World\u2019s Greatest Managers Do Differently.\u00a0 In it, they talk about \u201ctough love\u201d as a tool great managers use to avoid all the self-doubt and hand-wringing.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how it works.<\/p>\n First, take a look at the \u201ctough\u201d part of \u201ctough love.\u201d\u00a0 Great managers are crystal clear about the level of performance they expect, and they are uncompromising on that expectation.\u00a0 In other words, they hang \u201ctough\u201d on their performance standards.\u00a0 When someone is underperforming, they expect to see steady improvement, and they expect to see it sooner rather than later.\u00a0 The point is, if you\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n The \u201clove\u201d part of \u201ctough love\u201d recognizes that the employee wants to perform well and is trying to perform well.\u00a0 As Richard Teerlink, former CEO of Harley Davidson observed, \u201cPeople don\u2019t come to work every day to do a bad job.\u201d\u00a0 So when someone is underperforming, it\u2019s probably not because they are being passive-aggressive or lazy or stupid, it\u2019s more likely because their skills and talents are not a good fit with the job.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 And it\u2019s also an act of kindness to move swiftly rather than let a good person continue to live with failure day in and day out.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Allowing it to continue or drag out . . . now that would be an act of cruelty.<\/p>\n The \u201ctough love\u201d approach doesn\u2019t 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..<\/p>\n Co-authors Buckingham and Coffman illustrate \u201ctough love\u201d with a story that I don\u2019t know is real or made up, but I like it.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cGary, an enormously successful entrepreneur, brought in one of his factory managers one evening and told him,\u2019Come in, sit down, I love you; you\u2019re fired; I still love you.\u00a0 Now get a drink and let\u2019s talk this through.\u2019 \u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most managers will tell you that the toughest part of their job is firing someone.\u00a0 It\u2019s an inevitable part of the job, but that doesn\u2019t make it any easier.\u00a0 Of course, we\u2019re not talking about firing someone due to unethical behavior, unlawful acts, or willful acts of disobedience.\u00a0 Those situations are relatively easy to handle<\/p>\n