The
3 most costly mistakes with problem employees. Separation notice
help.
Whether you are firing your problem employee or laying off workers
because of downsizing, you must give each worker a formal separation
notice. It is a crucial part of the termination process. And while
every termination is different, all separation notices should follow
a similar format. This is not to say you do not have to tailor each
separation notice, you do. But you can use a basic template and change
it depending on your circumstances.
What a Separation Notice should contain
First, a separation notice should have basic employee information.
You should include the employee's name and social security number.
Then list the dates the employee started work and date last worked
and the reason that they were separated from employment. Be careful
when giving reasons for termination. Get rid of any discriminatory
language or unprofessional wording.
You must make sure your employee clearly understands the reasons
for the separation. Also you must have documented evidence to support
those reasons. If you have collected this information properly, the
employee will not be surprised by his or her current predicament.
Finally there should be an area for both you and the employee to
sign off on the separation notice. This gives you legal evidence
the employee knew why you were letting him or her go.
Needing
to separate an employee from your company? This is how I terminate.
Managers Must Choose Their Battles Carefully The most difficult choices you’ll ever have to make as a manager are in choosing your battles. You need to answer three questions:
1.) Which battles can be won?
2.) Which battles do I have to win?
3.) Which battles are best not to fight?
You can’t win all battles. For example, you shouldn’t resist if a mugger sticks a gun in your back and demands your money. Other battles can be won but the price of winning is too high. Taking a customer to small claims court over an unpaid $20 invoice is unwise when the court cost is $75.
An example often brought up by managers is employees who smoke. Smoking in the office was acceptable thirty years ago. Allowing smokers to light up at their desks today will run off non-smokers. While you’re not legally required to allow smokers a place to smoke, failing to do so would probably cause you to lose smoking employees. A reasonable solution is to forbid smoking in the office but allow it outside. The next battle is how many smoke breaks to allow. If smokers take ten smoke breaks per day and non-smokers take only two, we have a question of fairness. We need to hold everyone to the same number of breaks regardless of what they choose to do while on break. The next battle will be the non-smoker who complains about the cigarette odor from the smoker. This is a battle you should allow the smoker to win. We all sit next to smokers on airplanes, in movie theatres and even at church. Expecting you to provide a smoke free office is reasonable. Expecting smokers not to smell like smoke is not.
Even law enforcement has to choose their battles. Legendary lawman Elliott Ness spent years trying to bust Al Capone for murder and organized crime. He couldn’t do it. Prosecutors eventually put Capone away for tax evasion. Ness felt as though he failed. I visited Capone’s cell in Alcatraz and can testify it was sufficient punishment, no matter what the charge was. A conviction for tax evasion isn’t as illustrious as a conviction for murder, but it did the job.
Your battles may not be as serious as law and order, but choosing them wisely will still have a huge impact on your effectiveness as manager. So how do you decide which battles you need to win? Start by asking these questions. (1.) How much will this matter in five days? (2.) How much will this matter in five months? (3.) How much will this matter in five years? You’ll be amazed at how much clarity you will gain once you answer these three questions.
About the author:
Glenn Shepard is a speaker, coach, and author in Nashville, TN. This article is excerpted from his book “How to Manage Problem Employees: A Step-by-Step Guide to Turning Difficult Employees into High Performers”, available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com He also publishes a free weekly newsletter at www.Glenn-Shepard.com
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Needing
to separate an employee from your company? This is how I terminate.
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