A difficult task you might face as a member of management is letting someone go.
It is a situation that will stir up feelings of anxiety, sadness and compassion. Another feeling that surfaces is guilt.
It does not matter if you are letting someone go due to poor performance, company restructuring, budget cuts or another reason. These feelings still surface and could stay with you for a while following the termination meeting.
So how should you layoff employees gracefully, in a way that ensures the process goes as smooth as possible? Here are a few pointers.
Have a Training Program in Place
This is a general tip I wanted to provide before diving into other recommendations.
When you think about how many companies make news headlines due to wrongful termination lawsuits or disgruntled employees seeking revenge, having a training program that covers the topic of how to layoff employees, begins to make sense.
Every company needs to have its managers undergo training on how to properly let someone go from their business.
A good training program can provide a proper process with details on how to handle each termination correctly, regardless of the reason behind it.
It is a way for companies to ensure that managers are on the same page and following the same practices when laying off employees.
It can also help ease some of your anxiety when displacing employees because you will have a standardised procedures and a training manual to serve as a guide to help you get through the termination meeting.
Be Clear on Local Regulations
Do your research on laws for terminating employees.
This will ensure you follow the rule-book and are protected.
Practice
Practice makes perfect.
The more you practice, the more familiar the situation will become to you.
It is advisable to practice with another person, ideally someone from your human resources department. One of the most beneficial aspects of this practice, is role playing how the employee will respond to the situation.
An employee layoff meeting brings lots of emotion and different reactions into the room. Your employee may become emotional or angry. Or the person may show no outward signs of emotion and have no reaction at all to what you are telling them.
Role playing the possible employee responses will help you prepare an effective approach while keeping your emotions in check.
During the actual termination meeting as well, it’s best not to go alone. The situation becomes more manageable, both practically and legally, when you have multiple representatives.
Think About the Location & Time of Day
Find a private meeting room or a quiet office to hold the meeting. It helps you handle the difficult task at hand while respecting the employee’s dignity.
It is never easy to let someone go. Likewise, there is never an ideal time of day to lay off an employee.
Friday afternoon can be a good time to deliver the message. By letting someone go on a Friday afternoon, you are lowering the chance for office gossip when other employees begin to notice the employee’s absence. It also gives the displaced employee the weekend to process what took place and to formulate a plan for their next move.
Another alternative is to deliver the news towards the beginning of the week, since that will let you stay in control of the situation and actively manage the remaining employees.
Be Direct
It’s best to be direct and to the point.
You can start the meeting by stating you have some difficult news to deliver, so that the employee is prepped for bad news. Then gently let them know their time with the company has come to an end.
At this point, you may provide the employee with a folder containing information on a severance package if your company offers this upon termination.
You can choose to remain in the room or you can turn the meeting over to the human resources person or outplacement consultant you brought into the meeting with you. They can explain details of the exact next steps and exit formalities.
Explain
You should provide some sort of explanation for why the employee is being laid off.
Often a general, but factually correct reason, works well.
Stay Focused
As the employee begins to process the fact that he or she is now unemployed, a range of emotions come rushing to the surface.
The employee may beg for you not to fire him. She may bring up a family circumstance, such as having a child in private school, as a means to try and change your mind.
Your primary task in this situation is to keep your focus on the task at hand. Do not allow your emotions to become a part of the meeting and do not get drawn into a discussion.
If the employee begins to ask many questions and tries to engage in lengthy dialogue, offer to hold a meeting with him later in the week. This keeps your emotions in check and your focus on bringing the meeting to an end efficiently. In most cases, the employee will not take you up on the offer to meet at a later date.
Be Kind
Offer to help, in ways that you can, such as providing a good reference letter and networking contacts.
Also try not to treat the employee like a criminal, by having them escorted out of the building within a certain time.
You can arrange for them to come by the office to clear their belongings and take care of formalities, when their colleagues are not around.