MBA2272 Why It’s So Hard To Fire Someone & How To Do It The Right Way - The $100 MBA Show

Summary

Episode Summary: The $100 MBA Show - MBA2272 Why It’s So Hard To Fire Someone & How To Do It The Right Way

Host: Omar Zenhom
Release Date: March 23, 2023
Podcast: The $100 MBA Show
Title: MBA2272 Why It’s So Hard To Fire Someone & How To Do It The Right Way

Introduction

In episode MBA2272 of The $100 MBA Show, host Omar Zenhom delves into the challenging yet essential task of terminating an employee. Drawing from his extensive experience in entrepreneurship and business management, Omar provides a comprehensive guide on understanding the emotional and practical complexities involved in firing someone and offers actionable strategies to handle the process effectively and compassionately.

Why Firing Is So Difficult

Omar begins by addressing the inherent discomfort associated with firing an employee. He likens the process to a personal breakup, emphasizing that it’s a relationship dissolution that carries emotional weight for both parties.

“Any relationship, even if it's an employee employer relationship, is a relationship. It's a breakup.” [02:45]

This emotional difficulty is compounded by the repetitive nature of the task. Each instance of firing triggers the same feelings of confrontation and regret, regardless of past experiences.

“You are reliving it, thinking about it when it's over. So you experience the emotions of this confrontation over and over and over.” [04:10]

Taking Responsibility

A significant reason firing is challenging is the realization that it often stems from the employer's decision-making, particularly the hiring process. Omar stresses that if an employee isn’t performing adequately, it reflects on the employer’s initial hiring judgment.

“If you hire them and they don't work out, you have to fire them. This includes me.” [05:30]

Acknowledging this responsibility is crucial for growth and improvement in future hiring decisions. Omar advocates for taking ownership of the mistake to foster better business practices and team dynamics.

Executing the Firing Process Correctly

Omar outlines a straightforward, three-step approach to firing an employee effectively:

State the Decision Clearly
- Begin the conversation by unambiguously informing the employee of the termination.
- Example: “Unfortunately our working relationship has to come to an end.” [07:15]
Provide a Brief Explanation
- Offer a concise reason for the termination, focusing on business needs or unmet goals.
- Example: “We're unable to continue to work with you because you're not hitting your KPIs.” [08:00]
Outline the Next Steps
- Inform the employee about logistical details, such as their last day, final pay, and contact points for further information.
- Example: “Your last day is this day. HR will be in touch with your next steps.” [09:20]

Omar emphasizes the importance of keeping the conversation short—typically under five minutes—to maintain clarity and prevent unnecessary emotional escalation.

“This is not a long conversation. This usually lasts less than five minutes, if that at all.” [09:50]

Handling Employee Reactions

Employees may respond with surprise or requests for another chance. Omar advises referencing prior performance discussions to reinforce that the decision is the culmination of ongoing evaluations and support efforts.

“Remember we had this conversation. Remember I put you on this plan? Remember when we had these new goals set out?” [10:35]

This approach helps in grounding the termination in documented performance issues, minimizing ambiguity and personalizing the decision as a business necessity rather than a personal failing.

Maintaining Team Morale Post-Termination

Post-termination, Omar highlights the importance of publicly acknowledging the departing employee's contributions to sustain team morale and demonstrate professional leadership.

“Anytime somebody leaves the team, there is some effect on morale. And we want to make sure that we manage that as much as possible.” [11:10]

By expressing gratitude and wishing them well, leaders can foster a positive environment and set a respectful tone for the remaining team members.

Final Considerations

Omar concludes by advising business owners to prepare for the emotional aftermath of firing an employee. Scheduling the termination appropriately allows for personal reflection and recovery before transitioning to subsequent tasks.

“Understand that this is an uncomfortable conversation and it's going to have some effect on your day. So make sure you schedule it properly.” [12:00]

By implementing these strategies, leaders can navigate the difficult process of firing with professionalism and empathy, ultimately strengthening their business and leadership capabilities.

Key Takeaways

Acknowledge Emotional Challenges: Recognize the personal and emotional difficulties involved in terminating employment.
Take Responsibility: Understand that hiring mistakes reflect on leadership and responsibility.
Follow a Clear Process: Utilize a structured, three-step approach to communicate termination effectively.
Reference Prior Discussions: Reinforce the decision with documented performance evaluations and support.
Maintain Team Morale: Publicly thank departing employees to sustain a positive and respectful team environment.
Prepare for Aftermath: Schedule terminations thoughtfully to allow time for emotional recovery and readiness for subsequent responsibilities.

This episode serves as a valuable resource for entrepreneurs and business leaders, providing practical insights into handling one of the most challenging aspects of team management. By adopting Omar Zenhom's recommended approaches, leaders can handle terminations with integrity, compassion, and strategic clarity.

Transcript

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Omar Zenhom (0:20)

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Omar Zenhom (0:40)

Hey oh. Welcome to the $100 MBA show, helping you navigate the world of business every single day with our daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of Webinar Ninja, an independent software company I started with my co founder back in 2014 and and in today's lesson you will learn why it's so hard to fire someone and how to do it the right way. Firing an employee, a team member, is never pleasant. It doesn't matter how many times you've done it, it's just no fun. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that it's so hard to have that conversation, whether it's in person or on a video call to let them know their services are no longer needed. In today's lesson, we're gonna take a look at why is this so hard in the first place? I was actually quite shocked when I started to learn. It doesn't matter how many times I do this, it's still just as bad as the first time. But along the way, I also learned how to do this properly. How to make sure when it's time to say goodbye to a team member, you do it right. Not only for them and for you, but for your team that is still with you. It is natural to have to fire somebody. You're not always going to have the right person as your team starts to grow. Some people don't grow with you. There's nothing wrong with doing this, but how you do it really matters. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business. Today's episode is sponsored by NordPass Business. As business owners and decision makers, we're constantly juggling countless login and password information to access all the different apps we use to run our business. Getting into these apps without a great tool and system can be a productivity nightmare. NordPasses eases the burden of access to business accounts, making it possible for your team to work across devices and apps, uninterrupted login share and make pay efficiently, backed by the highest standard of cybersecurity technology. If you're a business owner or a decision maker in the business, this is a must have see NordPass business in action now with a three month free trial. Just go to NordPass.com 100 MBA and use code 100 MBA to get three months for free. Again, that's NordPass.com 100 MBA. Use code 100 MBA. Having to fire an employee can be one of those days in business that you wish you could just forget. It's one of those tough days where at the end of the day, you're just kind of like, why am I doing this? This is so hard. And of course you get over it as time goes by, but the experience is just not pleasant. And what I'm here to tell you is that this is normal. Why? Because any relationship, even if it's an employee employer relationship, is a relationship. It's a breakup. Somebody that you work with for a period of time is no longer going to be working with you and you are breaking up, right? You are the one who's making the decision to no longer to be in this relationship. So obviously it's confronting. It's hard, it's not easy to have this discussion. And a big part of the reason why it's so hard is because you probably have experienced it more than once when you're doing it. What do I mean by that? Is you're playing it out in your head way before it even happens. You're imagining it, you're rehearsing it in your head. You are then doing it and then you're reliving it, thinking about it when it's over. So you experience the emotions of this confrontation over and over and over. And this takes a toll on you. This is why it's helpful to already have a system of having this conversation when you fire somebody. So that you can just refer to this system, refer to this format and not have to think about it beforehand or after. And here's the bottom line. No one wants to fire anybody. But you're doing it for your business, to survive, to do well, to serve your customers, to continue to give excellent service or quality of service or products. You're making the tough decisions on behalf of your company. And that's what leaders do. So we know this cognitively, we know the rationale, we understand that this makes sense. So we have to do it. But I'm gonna get a little deeper. Another big reason why it's hard to fire somebody is because it's your fault. I know that sounds weird. Hey, if I'm firing somebody, doesn't that mean they're not doing their job and therefore it's their fault? Well, not exactly. They didn't just appear in your business, right? You hired them. You made a decision to hire this person. If you have to fire this person at some point, this most likely means that was a poor decision. Right? You made a mistake. That's a bad hire. And that's tough because it really hurts to hear that or to know that inside that you screw this up. But at the end of the day, it's your job to hold yourself accountable. You are responsible. You are responsible for what happens in your business, including bad hires. This is why I make it a rule, if you hire them and they don't work out, you have to fire them. This includes me. I'm part of the hiring process for most of our hires, if not all. So I have to be part of the process of firing. I have to take responsibility and do that. Right. And take ownership over that decision. Why I need to feel uncomfortable by it. That pain is gonna help me do a better job when I hire new people knowing that I don't wanna go through this process again. So I better find somebody who is a better fit. So I don't have to fire them. Right? I don't have to go through this process. Now, obviously there are some exceptions. Sometimes you're gonna have to fire somebody because maybe they were good for a period of time, a series of years, a chapter in your. They're no longer growing with you, or they've maybe had a change in their life and it's just not working out. These are exceptions, of course, but we're not talking about the exception here. We're talking about what normally happens. So take full responsibility, take ownership. Understand it's your responsibility to fire this person. Cause you hired them and that most likely was a poor hire. So how do you do it the right way? How do you make sure that you have this process down pat? And you just do this every time you have to make a fire? Hopefully not that often. It's basically just three parts. It's very simple. You tell them what's happening, you tell them briefly why it's happening, and thirdly, what happens next. And by the way, this is not a long conversation. This is not a long meeting. This usually lasts less than five minutes, if that at all. And in my opinion, you should not drag this out. You should get to the point immediately. So just start by just stating the fact of the fact they're being fired. Just say, hey, unfortunately our relationship, our working relationship has to come to an end. We're unable to continue to work with you because XYZ because our needs have changed. Or maybe we have tried to work with you to get XYZ done in the company. You weren't able to accomplish these goals. And therefore we're going to have to part ways. Usually they're just not hitting milestones, they're not hitting KPIs. That's why you have to let them go, so you can find somebody that does. So tell them that flat out, we're gonna have to part ways because you're not hitting your KPIs, because we're not fulfilling our goals as a team. Because you're not fulfilling your goals as a team member. This is one or two sentences, right? What's gonna happen next? Thanks so much for all your hard work. Your last day is this day. This is what's gonna happen. This is your final pay. This is what HR is going to do, right? They're going to be in touch. Now. All the details after that don't really matter. You could really just tell them the news that they're being let go, they're being fired, their time is up. This is why. And then what's going to happen next? You're going to be contacted by hr. They're going to tell you what your next steps are. Your last day is so and so. If you have any questions, email this person or message this person in your team. This could be your executive assistant. It could be you. But that's it. Okay? That's basically it. Now, in most cases, that's where it ends. Sometimes in my experience, the team member will ask some questions like, is there anything I can do? Can I get another chance? I could do better. Things like that. It's okay if you'd like to have this conversation, and the way I like to handle it is I like to remind them of the conversations we had before we got to this point. Meaning I will never get to the point where I will have to fire somebody without having a ton of discussions about their performance, about figuring out how we can improve, putting them on a plan, giving them training, supporting them along the way. They should understand that when we're having this meeting, this is not the first time we're talking about this. Right? And this should be the case for you. You should always try to reinvest it in your team members, in your employees. You've hired them. It's in your best interest to try to make sure that they get better. If they can't get better, if they're just not doing it, if they're not making it happen, and hitting their KPIs and achieving the goals you have set out for them and you've given them the required time to do so. This should not be a surprise. Now, having said that, there are a lot of people that are surprised by this, even though you've given all these warnings and trainings and all these kinds of things and that's natural and that's fine. Some people are like that. And this is why you might have to explain hey, remember we had this conversation. Remember I put you on this plan? Remember when we had these new goals set out? Remember we adjusted your goals? I've tried my best, reinvest in you and make sure things will work out. But unfortunately it's not working out. We're not hitting our goals and I have, you know, my responsibilities as a leader of this team and I have a duty to my customers to make sure we hit these goals. And this is why our relationship has come to an end. Reaffirm that this is happening right you are being let go. You're being fired. Now, I know that this might be a difficult conversation for you to actually conduct and to say these words, and that's why I recommend writing it down, even if you have to read it off your screen. I know that sounds strange, but it's important for you not to waffle or to babble or to wing it. You need to have this tight because when you don't have it tight, it's unclear. You're sending mixed messages and it's not good for them. It's not good for you. Today's episode is sponsored by NordPass Business. Did you know that over 60% of organizations report that access issues impact their productivity regularly? In the same report, 31% said access issues are the source of daily disruptions to their workflow. That's a lot of energy and time lost in your business. Luckily, there's NordPass business to save the day. We highly recommend that every business get NordPass business. Why? Because NordPass business is a password manager that will save you time and energy, allowing your team to focus on what matters most. You can store and access all your online accounts from anywhere. Stop storing important credentials in Google sheets and Excel files and popping it on your desktop. Or God forbid, you're writing your passwords in notebooks and sticky notes. You and your business deserves better. But it's not just passwords. You can share your company credit card with other teammates securely. NordPass lets you keep an unlimited number of company cards close at hand and offers a simple and secure way to share that information with teammates and hold departments on demand. Give and revoke access effortlessly. So when new teammates join or leave, Nordpass has got your back. Nordpass is so confident that you're going to love NordPass business. They gave us an amazing, amazing deal. See Nordpass business in action now with a three month free trial. Just go to NordPass.com 100 MBA and use code 100 MBA. Three months of NordPass business for free. Just go to NordPass.Com 100 MBA and use code 100 MBA and we're back, folks.