Best Way to Fire a Problematic Staff

By | June 5, 13

When it comes to the issue of firing a problematic staff, you need not be in a hurry; otherwise you might be doing more harm to your business than good. This is important, especially if the said staff is holding a sensitive or critical position in the company. Here are two things you should do before taking such decision.

firing problematic staff

Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Review the employee’s terms of employment

You should take out time to review the employee’s contract – is it that you have been asking him/ her to do what was not in his/her contract? Have you been asking too much without adequate compensation? Is he/she due for promotion?
You may have to ask even more questions to make sure you are not the cause of his/her recent behavior that warrant firing him/her.

Disengage gradually

After reviewing the staff’s terms of employment and you find out his/her negative behavior to duty is not as a result of any ill-treatment from your company, and that you really need to fire him/her, it is advisable to do it gradually.
You can get somebody to learn what that individual is doing. For instance, if you run a fashion boutique and this individual is responsible for handling cash in that business, to fire him on the spot will not be the best thing to do. You need to first get someone who is qualified and capable to immediately take up that job.

If you cannot readily find such a qualified person, or you cannot afford their salary, what you can do is to find a suitable person in your company to groom to be able to take over the responsibilities of the misbehaving staff. You can even have the grooming done elsewhere by arranging with another outfit to help you train the fellow, so that by the time you have fired the problematic staff, the new person will just fit in without him/her having to be a novice.

Before you fire the staff, start taking off some of his/her responsibilities gradually without him/her knowing your intention, and what that means is that you have to be on ground during that period if your business is just starting out, or if your business is running with a low staff strength.

Firing a capable staff due to indiscipline and misbehavior can be a tough decision to take, especially when you think of the cost and the efforts required in replacing him/her. However, for the sake of the success of your business, it’s a decision you must take. The idea shared above will help you make the change smoothly without it affecting your business.

Experts in business and technology, as well as daily users rate this software higher and above others. Click here to see why.

Leave a Reply