Making Painful Termination Decisions

What I hear people ask, and what I tell them.
My answers are in green.

  • The situation can’t be as bad as all that?
    Frequently it is worse... and your staff knows it.
  • If I get rid of this person, who will do the job?
    The people who are already doing that person’s work.
    A new hire who will be marvelous.
    Amazingly little work was getting done anyhow.
  • But he has a wife and children.
    We all have obligations, and you have obligations to do what is best for the group as a whole.
  • Of course, he must know he hasn’t been doing a good job?
    People have incredible abilities to overrate themselves and deny reality.
  • I’m retiring in a year; maybe I shouldn’t make a change?
    A year is a very long time to do nothing, and do you want NOTHING to be part of your legacy?

A checklist:

Questions for you to answer:

  • How clearly does the employee know what is expected of him?  Are you sure?
  • Does the employee know that his performance/behavior
    is putting his employment at risk?
  • How well have I coached and counseled the employee?
  • Should I do more coaching and counseling, and for how long?
  • What other options do I have that would make this person worth keeping?
  • How do these options fit in the big picture?
  • How consistent have I been in holding this employee accountable?
  • Who will do the work when this employee is terminated?
  • What is best for this employee’s future in the short-term and long-term?
  • What can I do to help this employee move on?
  • Why am I still not making the painful decision?
When you need training or skills development to appropriately make and implement the painful termination, call me.

When You Must Downsize

In the more than 200 restructurings I have been part of, only twice have I seen someone move too fast.

Screw-ups to avoid:

  • Moving too slowly.

  • Not cutting enough.

  • Making decisions based on friendships.

  • Sacrificing your stars or keeping your stars too long.

  • Not redefining jobs.

  • Not retraining valuable employees.

  • Not communicating the whys of your decisions.

  • Not helping the survivors grieve and then move forward.

How I help:

  • Objectivity.

  • Objectivity.

  • Objectivity!

Performance Feedback

Performance management is an investment in your staff. Sounds easy! But many managers are not born with this gift. Most need to be trained and coached to ask open-ended questions and listen to understand. They must both believe in and commit to providing timely feedback and establishing goal-setting. As Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman wrote in First, Break All the Rules: "Great managers excel at holding up the mirror."

During training and coaching, my clients learn to make performance management a priority by putting it on their calendars and following up to reinforce the results they've achieved. They learn that making an upfront investment in their staff makes their own job easier as they meet their goals, obtain the culture they want, and build a healthier organization.

Staff Development

Creating and sustaining a healthy organization requires a commitment to the ongoing training of management and staff, and establishing continuing dialogues across your organization to create respect and high performance.

You achieve healthy retention in your organization by enabling your employees to grow, expand their knowledge and skills, and accomplish a meaningful and superior job.

In helping a museum address such issues, I worked with a series of employee task forces and focus groups. In one group, the staff looked at and experienced the institution from the visitors' perspective. Out of that relatively simple process grew a completely redesigned reception area and a schedule where every staff member regularly spends time working at the information desk. For the institution, the results were significant and twofold: a highly improved experience for the visitors and a staff who are far more committed to the success of the institution because they became part of the solution.

For concise suggestions on creating a healthy climate, go to New Offering, Health and Healing Culture

Compensation

Employees rarely understand the full value of their compensation package until you educate them.

Major elements of a total compensation/rewards package:

  • Salary
  • Social security
  • Worker’s compensation
  • Health insurance
  • Career paths
  • Training
  • Retirement
  • Work week
  • Flexible schedules
  • Work/life balance
  • Sick leave
  • Vacation
  • Holidays
  • Bonus
  • Office, title, and recognition
  • Meaningful work
  • Great colleagues
  • Good boss
  • Working conditions
  • Tools to do the job

How you balance these elements and how you communicate their value, determine your success in both hiring and retaining employees.

I can:

  • Review, identify, and value the elements of your total compensation/rewards package.
  • Design packages that are market-driven to attract and retain employees.
  • Recommend policies and practices that serve your organization and the work/life needs of your employees.
  • Design career-development programs.
  • Recommend and execute communications programs that reinforce the value of your total rewards to your staff.
  • Recommend performance and recognition programs to acknowledge and reward exemplary individual or team performance.

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"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change"
– Wayne Dyer
Co-edited by
Wendy Luke.

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