First Time Firing

Rebecca Mazin

• Editore: Packt Publishing
• Anno: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781783000715
• Edizione: 1
• Argomento: Negocios y empresa
• Categoria: Etiqueta empresarial

Firing someone is never easy; it shouldn't be. The key to minimizing sweaty palms and the chance of stuttering through a statement is remembering that this is a business decision, and a business conversation. It requires preparation and planning for success.First Time Firing will provide you with clear and practical guidance to making termination decisions and acting on them. It will take you from making that first decision of the process, through preparing notes and recommendations, to delivering the news with confidence.Firing people is a difficult but necessary management task; it is essential that you maintain your professionalism and keep the needs of the business at the forefront of your mind. This hands-on guide is the perfect companion that will help you to do exactly that.Beginning with helpful advice on making a termination decision, HR expert Rebecca Mazin breaks down the process from the initial decision, through to planning and conducting the meeting, and then guides you through the necessary steps afterwards.With real life examples to illustrate best practices, First Time Firing takes a concise and logical approach giving you the confidence to handle a termination.

First Time Firing

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First Time Firing

Copyright © 2014 Impackt Publishing

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First published: April 2014

Production Reference: 1070414

Published by Impackt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place

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Birmingham B3 2PB, UK

ISBN 978-1-78300-070-8

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Cover Image by Jarek Blaminsky (<[email protected]>)

Credits

Author

Rebecca Mazin

Reviewer

Adam P. Whitney, Esq

Commissioning Editor

Richard Gall

Copy Editors

Tanvi Bhatt

Paul Hindle

Faisal Siddiqui

Project Coordinator

Priyanka Goel

Proofreaders

Simran Bhogal

Maria Gould

Ameesha Green

Production Coordinator

Melwyn D'sa

Cover Work

Melwyn D'sa

About the Author

With more than 20 years of expertise, Rebecca Mazin formed RECRUIT RIGHT to create usable solutions for employers to meet increasingly complicated human resources challenges. Her clients benefit from clear guidance, tools, and techniques that quickly cut through fads, jargon, and complex regulatory issues. RECRUIT RIGHT consulting, training, and written communications produce measurable results in a wide range of businesses and not-for-profit organizations from small startups to industry giants.

Rebecca uses her passion for demystifying human resources issues to write content accessible for business owners, managers, and HR pros. She is the author of The Employee Benefits Answer Book: An Indispensable Guide for Managers and Business Owners published by Pfeiffer in 2010 and the co-author of The HR Answer Book: An Indispensable Guide for Managers and Human Resources Professionals published by AMACOM in 2004 with a revised edition issued in 2011. Her advice and commentary appears in business publications, industry and trade journals, and Rebecca is a featured expert on the award winning www.AllBusiness.com website. Follow Rebecca on Twitter at @thehranswer.

Prior to founding RECRUIT RIGHT, she held key management positions at major organizations. Her experience with Millennium Hotels and Hyatt Hotels Corporation built on her work at Owens Corning and the U.S. Federal Government at the National Labor Relations Board.

Rebecca is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in Labor Relations. She is a certified facilitator of Achieve Global training programs. Rebecca is active in the community, where she uses her skills and talents to enhance organizational effectiveness and outcomes.

Rebecca was board co-chair for MTS, a non-profit that hired, trained and placed individuals with HIV Aids and has held board positions with The Junior League of Westchester on the Sound. She currently serves on the board of Furniture Sharehouse, Westchester's Furniture Bank.

About the Reviewer

Attorney Whitney of the Law Office of Adam P. Whitney is an accomplished attorney based in Boston, Massachusetts. He primarily works for private companies, serving as an outside general counsel and litigation counsel on various contract, employment, and business matters. With over fifteen years of experience, he has successfully handled business and employment litigation and counseling matters, including a number of jury and jury-waived trials.

Preface

Terminating someone's employment is never an easy task for a manager. It is a difficult decision to make, particularly if you have cultivated a strong relationship with an employee. However, when approached methodically and with strict professionalism you will gain much needed confidence and control in a potentially stressful situation. Indeed, the skills you will learn in this book will be important to your development as a manager; being able to make difficult decisions and carefully handle tough situations are the hallmarks of a great business leader.

It's a business decision

You will be reminded throughout this book that firing someone is, first and foremost, a business decision. By adopting a practical mindset you will be able to take control of your anxieties.

You may be lucky and already have all the right people in the right spots, but it's more likely that fine-tuning or major engineering is required, or at least will be at some stage. Even with the best intentions and vigilance, when people and business conditions change, firing an employee becomes an inevitable part of professional life and an important part of a manager's responsibilities.

It will never be pleasant to fire someone, but it can, and should, be conducted as a professional, business conversation. When taking a broad view of existing talent, it might be tempting to simply decide "The group is good enough" or "They all have to go." This is certainly not the way to plan for a talented team. On the pages that follow, you will find a clear and practical guide that takes you through the process from beginning to end.

Why fire someone?

Firing someone should never be about using your power and position to simply get rid of people for any reason, or no reason at all. The best managers use an appropriate process to make the decision to fire someone based on three broad categories:

• Lack of fit for a position
• Poor job performance
• Violation of company policies and rules

Whatever the reason for a termination, every incident needs to be treated both equally and individually. You need to always follow the correct process but still aware of to the specificities of the situation.

In my more than 25 years in human resources, both in-house and as a consultant, I have sat on the side of the desk that delivers this bad news more times than I wish to count. After the termination is complete, managers have often told me, "I would never want your job." I never started one of these days with happy anticipation or ended a termination meeting with a fist pump. I have been able to review the outcome and measured success for the company based upon preparation, a level of professionalism in the process, and how the action contributes towards meeting organizational goals. It's this knowledge that I eagerly share for new managers to reduce anxiety and create context that ensures that good business decisions are made and communicated when termination is necessary.

Summoning the courage to say, "You're fired"

It may not sound complicated: identify a reason for termination and deliver the message. However, speaking these dreaded words necessitates some preparatory work before the actual conversation. Thorough preparation will clarify all the components of the task ahead of you.

After reading this book, you will feel more comfortable with the idea of terminations and be ready to move forward and tackle a tough conversation. It may not be a casual discourse about the weather, but you will be able to keep it natural and professional.

Of course, even once you have handled a difficult conversation, there is still work to be done—don't worry, I'll take you through these steps to make them as stress-free and painless as possible.

Use t...