A month ago i decided that we needed to let 3 people go from our Arts Hub business. Now i made this decision because in tough times, i needed to rebalance the business and i wanted to move people from non-revenue generating roles to revenue generating role (sales) and the people i had were not sales people. The approach we took was to discuss the change with the 3 people concerned and to give them 2 weeks notice and then to give the an additional 2 weeks pay. They were not long time employees (around a year) but i thought they deserved a little extra. We also asked if they would like to leave immediately or if they would like to work out the time. They all decided they wanted to work out the time.

However, not everything went smoothly. One of the employees decided that the reason the changes were being made was because we were closing down part of the business and therefore proceeded to inform the customers that we were doing this. Unfortunately this was not true and he didnt follow the established procedure of getting sign off before sending out communications.

Once we found out what he had been doing, we immediately let him go and patched up he misunderstanding with the affected customers.

So what did i learn?

• Once you have made a decision, move fast.  There is no reason to delay the inevitable.
• Have an open discussion with the affected employees – there should be no secrets and most people are understanding when you outline what is happening
• When letting people go, make sure that you look after them to the best of you ability – either pay them a little extra or help them find a new role through outplacement services – they are people and they deserve to be treated with respect
• Once you have informed someone of the changes, you should probably have them leave immediately.
• If you choose to keep people around for a period of time – watch them like a hawk.
• Once they leave, make sure that you review their emails to see what has happened and ensure that they have no further access to the business
• FInally – treat people with respect!

Letting people go is hard … but if you have to do it, do it right!

I spent a couple of years asking them to leave so I could move my own team into place.  Most crawled away quietly, but one filed an EEOC age discrimination complaint against me.  Since all my top managers depend on me for their incomes they agreed to sign false affidavits, so the problem went away, I think.  However, it did take an inordinate amount of my time and that of some of my staff to gather defense records together and redact whatever didn’t look good. My question would be, how to fire all the old guys without opening myself up to this irritation again?

Firstly i think that this is not the best way to approach the problem.  You should not be manufacturing evidence to cover your arse!

First and foremost, the shareholders are going to measure you on what you do with the business moving forward not necessarily how well you handle the departure of the old guard.  Unless the old guard is now loyal to you and is adding value, they must go.  Make short work of it.

I see legal costs as sometimes being the cost of removing someone from the business.  We have been sued by a number of people and we always settle.  Usually it is not for too much and most people don’t even sue.  It is just a cost of business.

Therefore the simple answer to the question is dont get stuck in the past – fire them and move on.  Lawyers and HR can handle the clean up if needed.