Terminating Substandard Performersor Substandard Performance Part 2
You have to read this page in concert with my Substandard Performance Page.I described the three approaches of dealing with the substandard employee: Upgrade, Transfer, Terminate. If nothing in the Substandard Performance Page worked, and it looks like you've invested enough time, energy, material, money, part of your limited resources. it's time. Now I shall walk through the process of termination.
You are facing the inevitable: Terminating substandard employees. When you realize this is the only option left, for many managers it is high anxiety time. One way is the Trump's famous pointing the finger at the employee and say "You're fired!". But.... Here are the steps to eases the stress and makes it fair for the employee: 1. Define the Problem. You have to define the problem. You have to show where is the deviation from the standard that you've set. You did set one, right? Take a look at the paragraph on standards. Also, get the employee's agreement that he falls short of the standard. If he is supposed to produce 18 widgets per day, yet produces only 14...we've got a problem. 2. Develop a Corrective Program. Develop a program which allows him to correct his performance. It's called counseling. The main parts of the corrective action are: It is measurable. It is time sensitive. It is written. And...you get the employee's agreement on the corrective action. HAVE HIM SIGN IT. btw, If you'd like to receive a Corrective Action Form for your own use, just drop me a note. It's free.
3. Review the Consequences. Establish and agree on the consequences of not meeting the program objectives. In many cases, the employee himself sees that this job is not a good fit for him and actually removes himself from the position or looks forward to the "liberation" day.
Example. An agreed upon corrective action is that the next 4 weeks, our employee has to produce 18 widgets per day. After all that is the minimum standard. Once a week you meet with the employee to review his performance. At the end of the four weeks, if he met the expectations of the corrective action program, he gets off counseling. If not, it is time to acknowledge that this is really not the job for him.
------ For more pages on Business Control, read the pages below.
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