Let’s be honest, sometimes it just doesn't work out.

In our coaching practice we talk to a number of leaders wringing their hands (rightly) about a decision to let a teammate go. Exiting a teammate is hard stuff. But when we’ve had the difficult conversation, tried aligning on a plan, tried the performance improvement plans (PIP), and performance still is not working out, then we must take action.

Failure to remove underperformers decays team culture, confidence, and effectiveness.

That doesn’t mean it still won’t hurt, but there are a few guiding principles that we have learned that may just help ease the burden.

First, you can let someone go and still care for (and about) them and be caring towards them. There is no need for a “hatchet man” approach in these circumstances. There is great need for compassion and care. People are not problems. People are people. People’s performance might be a problem, but people are not problems. Separate the person from the performance and exit the underperformer with care.

Second, make no mistake about this fact, letting a teammate go has just as much to do with the rest of the team as it does the person who is leaving the team. The team is always watching.

Our ability to care for the underperformer, while stewarding the team towards effectiveness will show our teammates that you care about both people and performance. “Dropping the hammer” callously will only show that you care about results. Results matter, but we won’t achieve them alone, and people are smart enough to see when they are just a number on your roster instead of a human being on your team.

Photo Credit: @jasongoodman_youxventures via Unsplash.

Third, recognize and mitigate the risks involved from multiple vantage points. A few risk categories include personal risks, business risks, and team risks.

Though we do not claim to be Human Resources specialists, we are specialists at being human. Any thoughts below should be considered and brought into consultation with your HR and legal counsel.

Personal risks: what are the potential negative outcomes to the individual losing their job be they financial, mental, emotional, or physical? Does your organization have programs in place to cover some of these and if not, can you create some type of off ramp that can help the individual? This is where a thoughtful severance package can serve its intended purpose.
Additionally, recognize that we spend 75% of our waking hours during the week at work, with our coworkers. This person will immediately lose a natural support structure, which may cause serious mental and emotional disruptions. Consult your HR and benefits teams to understand what options your organization may have to extend benefits for the individual, especially if you know they are at risk.
What are you doing to take care of yourself in the midst of this? So many leaders take this stress home with them. While you’re consulting with your HR team on behalf of the employee you are exiting, consider also engaging your employee assistance program (EAP) for yourself. The bottom line is, don’t go it alone - talk to a trusted and confidential resource and address your needs as well.

Business risks: What are the real, perceived, and likely risks to your business when you make this separation? Does the individual hold critical knowledge and (if so) how can you gather that information thoughtfully? Does the individual hold critical relationships with partners and (if so) what is your plan to communicate proactively and thoughtfully with those partners? These two questions will make you love a customer relationship management (CRM) approach and software system if you need to use it!
Do you have the internal capacity to cover the loss in productivity when you exit the individual? If not, can you contract out a fill-gap in the interim while you hire a replacement?
Be careful about the “rip the band-aid off” approach. If you have multiple personnel that need to be exited, consider a phased approach to ensure the business does not suffer. When I was a young Sales Director, we had to exit a number of underperforming sales reps in a district that already had vacant positions. I made the decision to rip the band-aid off, and we didn’t hit our number that year. That was a lesson I learned the hard way once - once!

Team risks: What relationships will suffer with the loss of this teammate? Who would you predict will not see eye to eye with you about the removal? Will the team have to take on any distribution of workload?
Don’t act like nothing happened. It did. Communication is key. Ensure that you have articulated a very clear and appropriate message to the team to assuage any concerns. The natural reaction when someone is let go is to wonder if you are safe in your job. The best medicine for that is proactive prevention. Having a clear, appropriate, and true message about letting someone go can help other teammates understand that the release has nothing to do with them.
Truth is a critical watchword in this process. Far too many times leaders try to massage the message in a way that is either so vague that it makes no intelligible sense, or that it is just flat out deceptive. Deception breeds suspicion. People are smart enough to know when they are being lied to. And vagueness opens the doors of curiosity. We’ve heard it a thousand ways: “we were heading in two different directions,” “he’s decided to step down for personal reasons,” or “she’s exploring others opportunities”. That’s all well and good, and maybe partially true, but it falls flat when someone is here today, and gone tomorrow after a “meeting with the boss”.
Confidentiality is also key. Don’t overshare the details of this release. It will hurt you and it will hurt the team. Remember, whenever you talk to someone about someone else, the immediate assumption is that you will also talk to others about that person. We can all thank Dale Carnegie for illuminating this key truth behind the caution to cease gossip. Additionally, there are laws in place to rightly protect the employee and their future employability. Steer clear of oversharing. Stick to your message.

While there are a myriad of HR landmines to avoid in letting someone go, these three simple risk categories can help us keep the team focused on the mission, while making the necessary personnel adjustments to improve effectiveness.

Two final thoughts warrant mention: ownership and preparation. Regarding ownership, remember at the end of the day this is your decision. Not anybody else’s. We must resist the urge to deflect even if one of our teammates challenges us on the matter. There was a reason we had to make the hard decision and let someone go. We can be honest about how difficult the decision may have been to make; let’s also be honest that we as leaders did in fact make the decision.

Finally, cover your bases. Know why you’re letting the individual go, how you have endeavored to raise their capacity up, where they’ve faltered, and what operating norms, values, and goals have been missed. Have all of that prepared before you have the difficult conversation, but resist the urge to litigate deficiencies point by point. Nobody wins in those kinds of conversations.

We’re sorry you have to go through this. We’ve been there and it sucks. Hang in there and be kind to yourself.