Leadership: When it's time to fire ...

By Jennifer Lawrence, managing director, Management Resource Group, Hiawatha

Despite the slight upturn in the economy, your business may find it needs to part company with an employee or a group

of employees as part of a restructuring

effort.

The way in which you separate from the employment relationship can make a huge difference in your employer reputation and bottom line. The workers you displace may end up working for your customers someday soon, so their ability to influence your future may be more direct than you could ever imagine.

The consistency in how you deliver the message is imperative and can create ill will when employees feel they have been treated differently or badly. For example, if Person A was escorted to their desk, but Person B wasn't, you don't want Person A telling anyone who will listen that they were treated like a criminal by your business.

Although firing someone is neither an easy nor pleasant task, there are a number of things you can do to make the process go more smoothly:

Plan ahead - Make sure you have the appropriate documentation to support your decision to terminate. It never hurts to consult with an employment lawyer to make sure you've considered everything.

Be mindful of whom to involve in the termination discussion. If you have an HR professional on staff, you will want to include him or her as well as the employee's manager.

Know what you are going to say and how you are going to deliver the message to avoid saying more than is necessary. Consider having your managers do some role playing with you in advance and/or have scripts.

If you have an on-site security guard, it would certainly be  prudent to let him or her know that this is happening.

Be mindful of the timing - This is a good practice because you want to minimize the affected employee's exposure to others.

Having someone escorted from the building as the next shift is coming in, for example, could be seen as putting that person on display.

Do you need to terminate an individual who is traveling on company business and if so, how and when will you approach this?  If the individual is part of a group that is affected and is not present, when will he or she find out?

Choose your place wisely - Hold the notice in a neutral conference room with no windows that look out to a busy hallway.

It's important to protect the privacy of your employee during what could be a very emotional meeting. Others do not need to observe what is taking place.

If an employee is visibly upset, ask if he or she needs a minute. Although it's important to get through the information you need to share, keep in mind that when someone is visibly upset, he or she will not remember many of the points you make. Include this information with the individual's separation package.

Be consistent with company policy - Does your employee use a company phone or a computer for personal use? Does the employee have a badge, company credit card or keys that must be returned?

It's never a good idea to allow employees to keep company information on their personal computer.

Is it necessary for individuals to be supervised when packing up their things? Is the employee allowed to come back outside of business hours, and if so, who supervises?

Make this a consistent plan or policy for your company.

For those who stay on - Once the terminations occur, hold a meeting for the remaining employees and explain what has happened. Know what and when you are going to tell the rest of the employees and be consistent with how you deliver those kinds of messages.

If your company decides to offer outplacement assistance, it's helpful to have the representative on-site for the notification.

Also, an outplacement counselor can help you with crafting the messages to the employees affected and to those who remain.

Just because an employee has left the building doesn't mean he or she will not be an advocate for you in the future. A recent recruiting survey demonstrated that more than 30 percent of new hires were referred by employees or alumni of the organization.

On the retention side, a survey conducted by Harris Interactive found that 31 percent of employees are not satisfied at their current jobs and 74 percent of workers - satisfied or not - would consider leaving if approached with another offer. These are the folks you already have invested in, who have the customer relationships that got you through the tough times, and the ones you want to keep the most.

Numerous studies support the belief that employees who witness their friends and peers go through quality outplacement services view the company more positively even if a downsizing had to occur.