How to Effectively Fire Someone

It’s tough to let someone go.

They have a family to feed, bills to pay, and need to make a living.

But we have a job too.

• To run an effective team.

There are different ways to fire someone.

I have 3 groups of people who exist (for the most part):

• Contractors.
• Incompetent employees.
• Competent employees.

It’s wise to bucket people correctly before firing them.

We want to have different approaches for all of them.

How to Fire a Contractor

To fire a contractor, you don’t have to do anything.

You just stop hiring them for a job.

They know when they are no longer being called back for a job, that something is wrong.

That’s their version of getting fired.

If you are cool with the employee, then it’s okay to give them an update.

‘Hey sorry bud, we found someone cheaper.’

But updates are not really needed because the contracting world is fast.

There is no guarantee that they are going to come back next week.

With contractors, it’s okay to give updates that they are getting fired, but it’s not mandatory.

How to Fire Incompetent People

Things are different with people who work in the same company as you.

These are the people you see all the time.

It’s important to overcommunicate with them.

In TV shows, you often see people getting blindsided with being fired.

And many think that’s the appropriate way to fire someone in real life.

At times, we won’t be able to give them updates that they are getting fired.

Because we are finding out last minute from our higher-ups that we have to let a team go.

But if we don’t have to let an incompetent employee go last minute, we should give them effective updates.

If we are going to fire someone in 2025, then by 2024, we should let them know they are on thin ice.

Example:

Let’s say Macy is doing a bad job in 2024.

Around the end of 2024, during their performance review, we let Macy know:

‘Here’s a performance checklist for next year. You need to meet these metrics next year, otherwise, you won’t be employed with us.’

You’re giving her an update that she’s on thin ice.

A lot of incompetent employees have no clue that you view them as incompetent.

From their view, they are doing all their necessary work.

If you think they are doing a bad job, then it’s your duty as the manager to let them know BEFORE you let them go.

Give them a chance to prove themselves.

How to Fire Competent People

Yes, this happens.

The 2 reasons we have to fire competent people are because:

• Their team is no longer relevant.
• Their role got automated.

A competent person is someone who is always on time, is a fast learner, and is easy to get along with.

Yet, we are letting them go.

This seems so unfair!

For a person like this, I believe you should fire them and get them hired at the same time.

Here’s what I mean…

At first, you fire them.

‘Look Jacob, I know you are a great employee, but your role is getting automated. I’m so sorry, but I have to let you go.’

But you don’t stop there.

Now your goal is to get them hired.

‘Just hang tight. I’m going to blast out an email that I currently have a great talent who is looking for a job to the other managers. I will do my best to get you hired in another team.’

Normally, when a guy is getting fired from one team, another team is putting up a help-wanted sign on Indeed.

Why not plug the fired guy into the new team who is looking for help??

It’s way easier to rehire someone who is already in a company vs bringing in someone new!

Be the manager who does their best to get a competent employee rehired.

You will win the respect of your tribe.

Let Them Vent

When people get fired, it’s like getting dumped.

A painful feeling.

They feel shocked, betrayed, and anger all in one.

When they get fired, they may lash out.

I’ve been seeing a lot of videos where a group is getting fired via a Zoom call.

There’s always one person from the group who lashes out.

I’m not a big fan of mass firings.

I get why it happens though.

The team is too big to get them in a one-on-one dynamic to fire them.

In situations like that, know that 1 out of the 50 will yell at you.

That 1 person will embolden the other 50 people to yell at you.

You’re going to be getting yelled at from all angles.

It’s easy for the manager to fight fire with fire, where they begin yelling too.

Avoid that.

Let the employees have the last word.

They are the ones who are going to be unemployed, not you.

Letting them have the last word isn’t only applicable to mass firings.

The same concept applies to one-on-one firings.

The person getting fired may lash out at you.

Let them.

Be the scapegoat in this scenario.

Let them vent, show their annoyance, and show their fear.

Then let them go…

It’s Tough to be The Boss

Everyone wants to be the boss until they see the dark parts of being a boss.

It’s tough to let go of people who were once rising stars.

As the company grows, people will show their true colors.

A lot of people become lazy once they get hired.

Let those clowns go.

But those workers who were victims to technology should be given another chance.

Their role got automated.

That doesn’t mean they are not sentient beings.

They can still learn, unlearn, and relearn.

Give them another chance!

If they are a competent employee, do your best to get them rehired.

That’s like you killing them to bring them back to life.

For more tips on social skills, be sure to check out my book, the Charisma King

– ArmaniTalks