Terminating an employee is always the manager’s toughest task. It needn’t be.
A “good” termination begins with a good hiring process. A thorough job description and clear delineation of duties are essential. Prospective employees must understand what is expected. The next element is a performance review process with scheduled, structured and honest feedback.
Great hiring and review processes highlight performance issues and steps needed for improvement. These disciplines cause employee and manager to share responsibility for addressing any concerns.
If performance still falters, both manager and employee will know it, and the termination conversation, while unhappy, won’t be a surprise.
– Kip Caffey, Cary Street Partners