A Safer Firing

There really is no good way to fire someone (but there are lots of bad ways, as I discussed previously). But beyond making a painful situation as painless as possible, is the need for managers to protect themselves in the process.Forbes magazine has an interesting article on how to go about firing someone and the crux of the process is this: "Extreme circumstances notwithstanding, walking papers should come as no surprise."

The second you hire someone is when you should be preparing to defend your decision if you ultimately end up firing that employee. That doesn't mean you should be scrutinizing every misstep and looking over your new hire's shoulder. On the contrary, Forbes writer Lisa LaMotta emphasizes that, "If an employee disappoints, don't rush to judgment--abrupt terminations can jar the rest of the organization. Start coaching sessions the moment there is a problem, not after things gets really bad."

But she also notes that all concerns about a new hire should be documented very carefully and in great detail (emphasis mine). There are lots of legal reasons your soon to be ex-employee can use to sue your company  from claiming discrimination based on their race, gender, national or even age (if the person is older than just 40!) to claiming retaliation.

Perhaps most importantly in the IT world, if you are considering firing an employee keep it to yourself or tell as few people as you need to. As my colleague Keith Ferrell points out, "Any advance warning gives the soon-to-be-gone employee the chance to plant the seeds of a cyber-theft or act of sabotage."

LaMotta agrees. "Discretion," she writes, "is the better part of dismissal."