Terminating Employee Issues Including Anger Management

In a recent Cornell University study of terminating employee procedures, researchers got this result. Ex-employees sue their former employers because they're angry about *how* the employers went about terminating them.

Let me explain this.

An employee becomes angry because her supervisor treated her badly in the termination meeting and afterward. She feels she didn't get the respect she deserves for her hard work, years of service, sacrifices for the company and so on.

Because she feels her supervisor didn't treat her right, she decides to even the score. So she calls a greedy lawyer who's looking for another big payday, and you now have a wrongful termination suit on your hands. (Or worse yet, she could come back with a gun.)

So what does this mean when you fire a worker?

It means you must keep the worker's anger as low as possible throughout the termination. This includes:

• How you break the news to the worker

• How you treat the worker during the termination meeting

• How the worker leaves the building for the last time

• How you take care of the worker through her career transition

As you think through each of these, you should consider these five ways to reduce anger...

First, don't surprise the worker with the termination; she should know it's coming.

Second, you should act professionally and compassionately during the termination meeting. Above all, you don't want to embarrass her by saying "You're fired" in front of coworkers.

Third, don't treat her like a criminal after you have fired her. Don't escort her out of the building with armed guards unless you believe she might vandalize, steal or become violent.

Fourth, be sure to give her an enough severance for someone of her level and tenure. You don't want her to feel cheated, and the only way she can recover financially is through a lawsuit.

Fifth, you never want to fire on-the-spot. You should only terminate once you have checked all the boxes on your preparation list. (To get the details, I refer you to Chapter 8 in the Employee Termination Guidebook where I give you all the proper preparations and procedures.)

By following this advice, the employee will be much less angry with you and the company, and you'll significantly cut your chance of an expensive lawsuit. To learn more click, terminating employee procedures.

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