Ready, Aim, Fire! That’s what it feels like when you’re doing a termination.
Most business owners don’t want to wait for numerous appeals and possible clemency – they want to move immediately to the execution! There is always a “trigger” – something that pushes the owner to make this decision.
Our HR Helpline gets calls all the time from business owners wanting to Fire – the Ready, Aim part – well, they want to skip that part. Ready and aim are important steps. Are you ready? Have you followed a progressive discipline process where the employee has been notified and had a chance to improve their performance? Has this process been progressively more serious? The “Aim” has to do with ensuring that you have done these steps and the termination is not a surprise to the employee. Surprises lead to bad things – lawsuits, sabotage and sometimes violence.
Unless the employee has committed an offense which is a crime or is listed in your policies as an action requiring immediate termination, don’t skip the “Ready, Aim.”
Firing an employee doesn’t have to be so hard. A good performance improvement system and progressive discipline process will save you from sleepless nights now and an empty pocketbook later.
Visit our HR Store for Forms, Policies, and Check-Lists for managers. Contact our team of HR Professionals for assistance with developing your company procedures and training your managers.