How do you know when it's time to terminate an employee? It's a question of will vs. skill...

Marriage counsellors say that they can fix almost any marriage, unless one specific feeling is present: contempt. It's the kiss of death for any relationship. While this rings equally true in employment relationships, there's one other sure-fire sign that it's time to terminate your employee: ambivalence.

When HR professionals discuss possible disciplinary action or termination with clients, we often reference a term we call "will vs. skill". By this, I mean is the issue you are facing with your employee a matter of ability or a matter of attitude? If it's the former, that's fixable; a good training program and mentorship from a senior colleague can close that skill gap in a hurry. If it's the latter, and there's no identifiable root cause, more often than not I'll advise my client to trust their gut and terminate. You can't make someone care, and it's exhausting to constantly be trying to motivate them. Further, a poor attitude is cancerous and contagious. Trying to rehabilitate an employee who doesn't give a flying fig can have a seriously negative impact on colleagues and a listing effect on your company culture.

If you do have an employee with an identified skills gap, meet with them as soon as possible to discuss. Your frame shouldn't be disciplinary in nature, rather, it should be supportive. With your employee, put a plan for improvement down on paper and be sure to get your employee's feedback and input on the steps that both parties will take to support improvement. For the first few weeks after learning (or while learning) their new skills, pair them with a high performing employee whom you trust, as an informal mentorship. Both parties will benefit from this relationship! Create a follow-up schedule as well (weekly and then biweekly) to go over what they have learned and to offer feedback on their performance.

So what to do with an employee with 'tude? Sit down with them to explain your concerns and ask what might be happening in their lives that is contributing to their behaviour. If they show no remorse, can't offer a tangible reason, and won't voluntarily commit to improvement, it's probably time to cut bait. There are bigger fish in the sea, and plenty of them.

#humanresources #termination #dismissal #firinganemployee