Is There Such a Thing as Firing Etiquette?
Posted on Mon, Sep 19, 2011
The phone termination of Carol Bartz, CEO of Yahoo, was the second within a month of poor firing methods that I’ve come across. A blind ad was placed on a job board for the Director of Fitness and Spa. An employee at this Fitness Center applied to the blind ad, only to receive the thank you for applying email with the HR Department’s email of her current employer. 
The Director with this surprise information from the employee who had applied (for her job!) asks her boss what’s up. Her boss, caught by surprise, proceeds to say this was premature, but her services were no longer needed in that area. How’s that for a surprise about your job? What else was a surprise, is this was a 25 year employee without ever a meeting informing her of a lack of performance or the need to bring in an outsider to take the department to the next level.
So where’s the etiquette in firing today? Is Carol Bartz’s telephone firing similar to my pet peeve of hiding behind email for those tough conversations? Or is it as bad as Carrie in Sex in the City thought when she was dumped by her boyfriend Berger via a Post-It note?
Firing an employee is though, if unfortunately you have to do it, here are a few tips:
1. Fire always, always FACE-TO-FACE.
2. Plan when, where and what to say before firing. You may even write what you are going to say. If you do provide an explanation, be certain it is behaviorally specific and not subjective – “We don’t like your attitude.” - even if you are in a right-to-fire state. It is always safe to say, “It’s not a fit at this time” and leave out the tit-for-tat.
3. Have necessary paper work and options prepared. Is there a buy-out clause, what does the contract specifically say about termination? Have two copies of the contract. The employee most likely has their copy in their safe, not in their desk drawer. Take care of as much closing out (moving on) business as possible in the moment.
4. What’s the office desk and building exit plan? Are you meeting them after hours? Are you asking them to clean out their desk immediately?
Firing is never easy. Remember how you fire can go around the world via social media as Carol Bartz’s story did effecting your brand and ability to attract top-notch talent. Do it right, as it’s the right thing to do.