Top things NOT to say when you have to fire someone

Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Mon, Nov 16 2009 | 0 Comments

Over the course of the last few months, I have written about ways to get jobs and what to do to maybe have a fighting chance at keeping yours. Well, while trolling the internet looking for something new and interesting to write about for this morning, I came across a BusinessWeek article that talks about the top 10 things that you should not say when it comes to firing an employee.

Here is the list according to Business Week:

1. “This was a job elimination and had nothing to do with your performance.” This could pave the way for a discrimination claim. Don’t try to protect your employee’s feelings by telling them exactly why they are being let go.

2. “We have carried you for a lot of years. It is just no longer possible to keep on doing that during the recession.” This is insulting to the employee, it may also be inconsistent with any of the person’s previous evaluations.

3. “We don’t have any other choice than to terminate your employment.” This is a lie; while terminating an employee is usually the route that employers take, there are always other options.

4. “You only have yourself to blame.” or “You did not try hard enough.” While it is important to hold employees accountable for their work ethic or lack thereof, you don’t want to injure their integrity. Anyone who feels personally attacked may decide to fight back.

5. “This is just as hard for me as it is for you.” There is no way that a firing manager feels the pain of someone who will be in the unemployment line. If you find yourself trying to utter these words, think about it…you still have your livelihood.

6. “This may just not be the right job for you. When you land the perfect job, you will come back and thank me.” This just isn’t likely.

7. “I’m sorry, but you’re fired.” You really want to avoid apologies even if you do feel bad about having to fire someone. The employee may think that you feel as though the decision that you’re making is wrong.

8. “I know how you feel.” This kind of goes hand in hand with the sentence in number 5. There is no way to know how someone will feel unless you, yourself, have been laid off recently and had to search and hunt for work.

You can read the rest of the list as well as some more about hiring and firing at the
Source

Related posts:
How much is your job worth to you?
Getting your employees to be more motivated

Tags: livelihood, discrimination claim, firing an employee