Comments on: When It's Time to Let People Go

By: How to Improve Your People Skills Al Switzler | CURTIS HAMILTON

How to Improve Your People Skills Al Switzler | CURTIS HAMILTON — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:28:30 +0000

[…] When It’s Time to Let People Go […]

By: Gary

Gary — Wed, 04 May 2011 14:33:14 +0000

Best practices for career recognition of virtual employees? Our org is spread across country and not able to do face-to-face recognition. Our employees are hosted at local units (“step children”) and the local unit business is completely different than ours (CIO). We have video capability and we do have the option to involve local leadership if that best practice.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 22:33:37 +0000

I have been down this road. It was a very painful experience. We went to church together. His wife also taught at the school. He was talented in many areas. Just not in administration. We laid out specific behaviors that we expected and were very slow to pull the trigger. When it came time, the board was unanimous in its decision. We asked him to resign at the end of the year. We gave plenty of notice so he could make his plans. In a ministry situation, if it is not something that you are doing to protect the children, give him time to bow out. The final piece was the communication with the staff and parents about our replacement plans.

By: Sharon Campbell

Sharon Campbell — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:35:00 +0000

Mary hit the nail on the head. When you look deeper, look really deep. I have been in organizations where some members are actively working to undermine others, and seldom can the people at the top looking down see the sabotage. (Generally, the incompetent are threatened by the competent.) It is almost always a conspiracy, with at least two people involved, often more. The usual upshot is the good people being undermined get out of Dodge, and the oblivious management is left with the conspirators looking to take on the next victim.

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 19:26:09 +0000

Good advice. I think it is important to remember that while getting rid of the person who embodies the issue may seem like the best way to address it, there is ALWAYS more to the story. Look deeper and see if you can determine what about the culture of the organization created or supported the poor performance of this individual. Even is you get rid of him, that will still exist. As someone said, the use of a reform-then-replace approach is always preferable.

By: Darrell

Darrell — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 18:12:31 +0000

Kudos, Al–great advice. In similar situations I’ve always believed in a reform-then-replace approach. I think you hit this right on: Give the headmaster the chance to change, and give yourself the chance to retain a valuable employee. And if this doesn’t work, find a better fit for both of you.

I would have liked to see more ideas on the second option (replace), though. Just how do you dismiss someone with respect and in a mutually beneficial way? Severance and outplacement are right on, but what else can/should you do to help the person land on his feet again, and how do you send the message to your organization that even people who are exited are treated humanely? This can go a long way in both helping you feel good about the process (it’s never fun to let someone go), and building trust in your organization among remaining stakeholders.

By: Tom Wagner

Tom Wagner — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:02:32 +0000

We need to be careful using the word “discipline,” which is appropriate for behavorial issues, and job performance shortcomings. The orignal note is unclear on why the headmaster needs to be terminated, but Al Switzer’s comments deal with job performance. Amen to Al’s advice; just repalce progressive discipline with “performance improvement plan” for clarity.