Before killing me (again) for this clickbaity title, please relax for a second and remember the moment when you were fired from a job. How did it feel? Now focus on where you are today. Have you evolved since then?
I would not be asking without implying that you have. In a way, getting fired has probably made you a better person. Isn’t that ironic? From my experience, I can tell that every job that I left or was let go from, improved my career. You learn what you do not want to do and your focus on where you want to be headed becomes clearer. It must have something to do with leaving your comfort zone and being more open to an alternative future.
As a manager, you mostly sit at the other side of the table. Firing is generally tough as you will have to acknowledge that you have failed. Yes, you read it correctly: you, the manager, are responsible for the failure this outcome represents. You did not hire the right person for the job nor did you provide enough support in order to make them successful. But, let’s cut you some slack here.
Just Hire The Right People In The First Place
When discussing these growing pains and hiring challenges with other managers, I very often received the following advice:
Just put enough time and effort into hiring the right people, so you won’t have to let people go.
This sounds smart at first but includes some unspoken assumptions.
- You have a bulletproof hiring system with a stringent process, great feedback loops, and streamlined communication within the hiring team.
- All great people want to work for you. Even though you might be a newcomer and nobody knows you, people can’t resist knocking on your door.
- You are focussing most of your attention and time on recruiting.
Well, you should never stop dreaming! Still, I’d like to bring you back to reality, because you will always hire the best people, out of those who applied for the job.
Unless you’re in the FANG gang, chances are that top talent does not appear at your doorstep on a regular basis. So you’ll be running with whoever shows up and passes your improvable hiring process.
Meet Inevitable Failure With Your Best Effort
I spent a great deal of my professional career as a manager, pondering how to get great talent. I tried money, I tried free pizza, and I tried parties. These attempts are not wrong per se- your team will appreciate them and have a great time — but they are ill-suited for serving as a talent magnet because everyone does it. Do you know what is not done by everyone? Growing people. Being able to grow people requires that you hire based on potential and not only skills, adding another layer of complexity to your daily schedule, creating room for failure. Your failure. And it will be ok, I promise. No matter how hard you try, you will also hire people who won’t be a fit. They might find themselves in a position where they are not identifying with your product or do not feel great within your team. They might also have joined at the wrong phase of your startup.
Prepare Your Mind
Be confident that you have created a welcoming culture and fostered a growth mindset in your team by following through with regular 1-on-1s with candid and specific feedback.
If you need to fire someone for the first time, don’t be embarrassed to talk to other managers who have fired people before. As a mental preparation exercise, consider the following thoughts:
- You have communicated ahead of time and set expectations for a behavioral change.
- Your decision is therefore not a surprise for the employee.
- Everybody knows it already, but you. Your team already knows who is underperforming.
- They will appreciate that you see it, too.
- They will start leaving you if you don’t.
When The Time Has Come
Eventually, your ways have to part. If you checked all the above boxes and have therefore made the best effort to make it work, you will need to verbalize the inevitable. Thanks to regular feedback, your employee will already have gained a basic understanding of why ending the contract is your only option. They might not be willing to accept it at first, so you need to be clear in your communication, preferably working through a checklist like the following:
- You will arrange the meeting spontaneously or use your already scheduled regular 1-on-1.
- If you don’t feel comfortable as this is your first time, make sure to not do it alone. Bring in an appropriate person to the meeting.
- During the first 30 seconds, you will communicate what will happen now and in the following days.
- This is not a negotiation! Don’t allow for a compromise, like trying it again for the next x-number of weeks.
- Work should stop today, Accounts should be blocked. You will be generous and make sure the person will be compensated fairly for the time they worked for you.
- Be conscious that you might meet again in the future.
- People react differently, so it’s not a bad idea to have tissues at the ready.
- Agree on the communication with the rest of the team and about who announces the departure.
A Brighter Future
Each contract termination will grow you into a better manager. It will never be painless. Rest assured that your team will respect you more if you make hard decisions for the right reasons. Listen to your gut and make fast, fact-based decisions. Formalize and write down your expectations, so people can internalize them, including yourself.
Never stop caring about your team. The moment you do, resign.
