How do I terminate someone ethically and professionally?

Terminations are almost always a managerial failure: Did you (or the manager before you) hire the wrong person? Did they get promoted too soon? Are they in the wrong role?

No matter what, there are specific steps you can follow to terminate someone ethically and professionally. Remember to document everything to ensure your direct report isn’t surprised and to minimize the risk of legal retaliation against your company and yourself.

• Ask your HR department for general information on performance management and terminating employees. You can also ask how they support managers during these difficult situations.
• Review the role’s purpose, duties, and what is expected for the organization’s success.
• Review the person’s 🏆Performance Management history such as 360 feedback, performance reviews, and other evidence of (under)performance.
• Get to know the individual through 👥One-on-Ones. You don’t want to fire someone ruthlessly who has performed well for years but has recently struggled due to personal or medical reasons.
• Share positive and negative 🔄Feedback on their work and behaviors, connecting it to expectations for their current role and level. You can follow The Five Conditions for Improvement by Roy Rapoport to diagnose why performance may not be improving, and include this in your 👥One-on-Ones discussions and 🔄Feedback examples.
• If 🔄Feedback isn’t acted upon, consider a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) with clear minimum expectations, action items, and timelines. Walk them through the plan and explicitly state that failure to achieve the plan will result in termination. For this step, ask for HR support as they may be required to be present.
• If they don’t meet the minimum expectations laid out in the Performance Improvement Plan, proceed with termination.