Employee Terminations: A Strategy Of Safety
Employee terminations are a difficult but sometimes necessary decision. When putting your plan into place, it is important to ensure the safety of those still hired is prioritized above the considerations given to those being fired.
“Jeff” is a tier-one recruiter with one of the most successful Venture Capital firms in Austin, Texas. He has placed some of the top talent at Google, Uber, LinkedIn, and Facebook. If you’re a seven figure HBS grad looking to make your next mark in the tech world, Jeff is your first call. He is hands-down the most well-connected person I know. When I knew I would be coming back into town, I reached out to him to see if he had some free time to meet. He emailed me back later that same day saying we should grab lunch. He also let me know that he’d be bringing along his wife. “Nicole” and I had never met. I only knew of her by reputation. She was a well-known partner with a downtown law firm specializing in employment-related matters. Jeff explained that a recent concern had arisen at Nicole’s office, and wanted to bring her along so the two of us could talk things over, and maybe make heads or tails over what came next.
We all met on a Wednesday afternoon in June at ATX Cocina, an upscale eatery in downtown Austin offering modern Mexican fare. We spent the duration of the appetizer with cordial catch-up. Once the first-course plates were cleared and drinks were replenished, Jeff steered the conversational direction to what Nicole was here to discuss.
“So,” Jeff began. “We kind of touched on this earlier, but Nicole has been advising on a few Human Resource concerns…”
“Specifically, employee terminations…” Nicole added as she took the lead from Jeff. “Is this something you’re familiar with?”
“Very.” I confirmed.
“OK, good.” Nicole said. “Typically, we — my firm — we’re usually asked to help with drawing up contracts, articles of incorporation, but recently, we’ve been advising a High Net Worth client who’s having some issues with one of her live-in staff” Nicole paused for a moment. “We’re really not sure the best way to go about it.”
I nodded my understanding.
“At one of our ‘all-hands’ this week…” Nicole paused to carefully choose her words before continuing, “well, a few attorneys expressed their own apprehension with this sort of things, because you see, it’s not really our area of expertise.”
Nicole looked back over at Jeff who took this as his cue to jump back into the conversation. “Bottom line is…they need someone who can school them on best practices.”
“Precisely.” Nicole agreed, smiling.
“Interesting.“ I offered.
“Any thoughts on the subject?” Jeff asked.
“Yes.” I said, preparing my thoughts on how to best address their needs.
“Care to elaborate…” Jeff quipped with a sardonic smile.
I thought about this for a moment more. “Any advice on stuff like this can’t exist in a vacuum.” I began. “Best practices depend on Totality of Circumstance.”
“Like what?” Nicole asked. She was leaning-in. Interested.
“There’s a whole host of variable,” I began. “For one, why are they being fired? Who made the decision to fire them? What factors influenced the decision? What’s the relationship between the person being terminated the person doing the firing? Are they friends? Enemies? Do they even know each other? Any history there that could complicate things? Was a threat assessment done? What does it say?”
I paused when I saw the blank look come across their faces. I already knew the answer but asked the question anyway: “Was a threat assessment even done?”
“Why would they need a threat assessment to fire someone? Jeff asked.
“Because you want to know how how the person in the room is going to respond,” I answered. “How likely are they to break bad?”
Jeff and Nicole both nodded in agreement.
“But it’s more than that.” I continued, “What’s the risk exposure to the client? Is there money involved? A severance package? How is it structured? Lump sum payout or in stages of cooperation? Do they have access to sensitive information? What’s the plan to have locks changed? Access rescinded? How much do they know that can hurt you? How much damage can they do to your reputation? Your brand? Your sphere of influence?”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Jeff said.
“Look…” I continued, “In most cases, the decision to terminate an employee typically comes down to one of three tipping points.” I numbered them with my fingers as I rattled them off. “Performance, cause, and budget.”
I looked around the table. “Ok good,” I thought. They were still with me. “The first is performance based. These are those cases where the employee on the chopping block has been given every opportunity to improve their performance, but just can’t seem to get their act together. These are the one who know it’s coming and are just doing everything they can to procrastinate the inevitable. This can be a problem. If they know it’s coming, if they can read the writing on the wall, but don’t make the necessary moves to circumvent an otherwise inevitable outcome, you have to ask yourself, why? What are they waiting for. It’s a legitimate concern, because if someone is already somewhere along the pathway to violence, the most dangerous of advantages is time to plan.
“Well, that’s a rather grim outlook,” Jeff said, before taking a sip of his marguerite.
“Which brings us to consideration number two.” I continued, “Firing an employee for cause… These are the ones who have typically acted-out. They’ve likely committed a fireable offense… something that violates a code-of-conduct. Things like: sexual harassment; racist remarks; theft, even threats… stuff they know if they get turned-in… or caught… is going to them fired…but for whatever reason…they do it anyway.”
“Mostly because they think they won’t get caught” Nicole added.
“That’s a very true point,” I agreed, “But when they do get caught, what’s the first thing they do?”
I looked to Nicole for an answer.
“They act out.” she answered.
“Exactly,” I confirmed. “They immediately go into self-preservation mode. Which begs the question, just how far will they go to defend themselves? How fervently will they fight? The concern here is that they’ve already displayed a willingness to act outside of appropriate behavioral norms. So, the question becomes, once you have them in the room, what else might they do?”
Nicole nodded.
Jeff sighed. “And the third?” he asked.
“The third,” I continued, “…and often most challenging, is budget. The company simply can not afford to keep them on payroll and has to let an employee go.”
“Lay them off, you mean?” Nicole asked with sincerity in her voice.
“You can call it what you want.” I said. “But they are only going to see it the one way.”
Nicole concurred.
“And all three present their own challenges.” Jeff added.
“Clearly they do.” Nicole commented.
“So what comes next?” Jeff asked.
“Ninety-nine times out of one hundred, the moment you tell someone they are getting fired…it’s a gut-punch. Even if they walk into the room knowing it’s coming, people will cling to avoidance of an issue until they no longer can. Right up until you say the words, they’ll think they have a way out.”
“I’ve seen that.” Nicole confessed.
“Me too.” I admitted. “I’ve seen too many grown men break-down crying in the corner of the room because they simply didn’t have the courage to face the truth of what they knew all along.”
A moment of silence came over the table as the waiter re-filled our glasses of water.
Once privacy was restored, Jeff continued the conversation. “Why do they take it so hard?”
“If it’s performance related,” I began, “it’s because they know they’ve been given every chance to improve, but for whatever reason, just couldn’t rise back up to the required standard of performance. If it’s for cause, it’s out of embarrassment and the realization they’ve just destroyed their reputation. It’s going to be a while before they get hired again.”
“If ever,” Nicole chimed.
“If ever,” I said, nodding in agreement. ”And if it’s because of budget, they are likely already in some kind of financial bind, and this new news only makes things worse.”
“I really never thought this much about it.” Jeff said.
“We’ll, at your level, both of you,” I said looking at them, “…you are dealing with a more socially in-tune and financially well-off kind of colleague. People like you rarely ‘get fired’ because you can see the writing on the wall. When something isn’t working, you simply resign. Move-on. Find something more fitting.”
Nicole nodded in agreement.
“It’s the people, whom people like you hire that are the cause of concern. The paycheck to paycheck class. The over-leveraged. The cash-strapped. The this job is my last life-line kind of person where just one more stressor may be the spark that ignites the flame. The straw that breaks the camels back. Causes them to fight instead of flight. Break bad instead of cower in the corner..”
“And…so…this is something you do?” Nicole asked.
“Yes,” I said. “This is a service my firm regularly provides. Sometimes it’s simply a phone call where we talk about best practices, other times, I’m just another suit in the room.”
“Like a bodyguard” Jeff added.
“No.” I countered. “Never like that.” I paused to smile so as to not have my abrupt counter be taken too personally. This was a common misconception. A too-often, over-played hand that more often that not, made things worse instead of better.
I softened my tone. “Typically, I say nothing and ask not to be introduced. If I am introduced, I prefer to be referred to as ‘counsel,’ a non-partisan observer, there to ensure both sides are treated fair. “
“Why is that?” Nicole asked.
“Firing someone is already a confrontational act. The last thing you want is to have someone in the room who’s acting like a heavy …no need to make a volatile situation more so.”
Nicole was nodding in agreement. “That makes sense.”
“I mean, look, more often than not, when things get emotional, I’m a sympathetic ear for them to share their story. I’m an unknown. They have no emotional connection to me. If the mood of the room starts to boil over, I can ask the employer to leave. Ask to give us a minute. Just me and them. Console them. Cool things down. Assure them the next thing will be better. Re-affirm these things have a way of working themselves out. This too shall pass.”
“I see…” Nicole said softly.
“But, yes, in those few and far between times when a hot-head getting fired comes barging into the room thinking they’re going to brow-beat and intimidate the poor HR rep doing the exit interview…then yeah…having someone like me in the room will take wind out of their sails. And, in those super rare times they do act up? Well, I can help curtail that too.” I paused for moment to add emphasis to this final, but important, point. “But in all of my time doing this, that has never happened. Not once.”
“And how is it have you accomplished that?” Jeff asked with curiosity
“Being honest,” Nicole said candidly, “You have a comfortable charm and a capacity to instill confidence that I imagine most in your line of work do not posses.”
“Well I imagine much of that comes from his training,” Jeff commented to Nicole. “You don’t want someone making bad things worse.”
“No. I know…” Nicole added, “…But if I’m in a board room and say, ‘should we think about security?’ the first connotation that will come to their mind is an ex cop in a cheap suit. ”
“Thank you,” I said to them both. “And you’re right. Most can’t do what I do. Not at this level anyway…Problem solving in matters like this is EQ as much as it is IQ. Just as much about compassion as it is about strength. Mostly…I’m successful, because I come into the room as an unknown. I can be whatever the situation needs me to be. If they break down, I can help them up. If they act up, I can help them out. But no matter how dumb they may have been in the past, no one wants to be embarrassed on their way out the door.”
I was trying to answer them both with as much assurance as I could. “But the other thing, the real thing, perhaps the more important thing, is this: In these types of confrontations, in that exact moment, all anyone cares about is their pride. Their dignity. If they can’t walk out with their head held high, it’s important they leave knowing the reason is because of them…not because of you.”
