Employees fired from their organization experience a lot of emotional upheaval. Situations may get tense and HR manager may have to face brickbats. It may feel like you cannot sweeten the deal since there is no deal at all. Nevertheless, you can always make a smooth affair and control the situation while letting the employee bow out with dignity. Here are some steps that you can follow to conduct a smooth termination meeting.
Preserving Employee’s Dignity
Employees fired from the organization suffer from a sudden lack of self respect and confidence about their abilities. This tells upon their dignity. A feeling of worthlessness and inefficiency creeps upon their demeanour. So, even while terminating the services of a worker, you need to adopt every possible measure to preserve his or her dignity.
Minimize Resentment
It’s natural for workers to be terminated to harbour a feeling of resentment against their employer. So, whatever you do during the termination meeting should be directed towards minimizing this feeling resentment. This augurs well for the employer or the HR manager.
A Proper Meeting
It augurs well for both to have a face-to-face meeting. Terminating an employee through emails or letters is a derogatory practice. If you are concerned about who should conduct the termination meeting, then it is always advisable to take the assigned immediate supervisor along with the employee. An immediate supervisor is the one who is most familiar with the work of the employee and circumstances leading to his/her termination.
Depute a Third Party
Besides the supervisor, situations may call for deputing a third party to ride out the ugly fallouts of termination. Even employee may want the presence of a third party. It is always a good idea to allow such a person as the employee derives solace that he/she is not being victimised.
Having A Witness is a Good Idea
Terminations are notorious in court cases. If you depute or allow a witness in the termination meeting, it may help you in the long run. He or she just needs to be the person who can testify that the process has been carried out fairly.
The Venue of Meeting
It is a good idea to conduct termination meeting out of sight of any other employee. This gives some respite to the tormented soul of the employee being fired. Having to face a termination meeting within an office space or company premises is a blow to the self respect of employees.
Timing of The Meeting
It is a general prudence to hold termination meetings during early morning hours. Also, hold these meeting in early weekdays and you need to avoid Fridays or days before holidays or vacations. Employees who are terminated in the last few days before vacation, holidays, or Fridays have a number of days to brood over the behaviour of boss or the company during such meetings. This may be harmful to you.
Procedure to be Followed During Termination
The legal termination meeting should not be dragged to more than 10 or 15 minutes. The sole purpose of the meeting should be to offer a simple and reasoned statement to terminate the concerned employee.
Offering Adequate Reason for Termination
Lawsuits arising out of employment terminations result mostly from inadequate explanation for the termination. So, employee needs to be given a chance to tell his side of the story.
Offering an Insight into the Benefits
Discussions about benefits can perk up sordid emotions and make termination meeting a smooth affair. So do cover the benefits like vacation pay, separation pay, etc., briefly so that it can mellow down the simmering tension between concerned parties.
Take Away
These are some of the steps you need to keep in mind while terminating an employee from an organization.
