Close your eyes and think about the time you had to fire a worker. I remember badly, right? Keep your eyes closed and think about the worker's expression. Overwhelming.
Certainly one is not prepared to face and carry out certain business decisions and that of dismissal is one of the most uncomfortable in which an employer and worker can be seen.
The article that I present to you is not, nor does it pretend to be, a magic tool that allows this process to be non-traumatic, but it can give you some clues that will make the dismissed worker “well dismissed”.
Before we get started with specific layoff tips, let me write down two important clues that will make firing a worker unpleasant for both of you:
Key 1. First of all, study the real needs of your company when hiring a worker. The best way not to make a layoff incorrectly is not to do it. Be aware, when hiring a person, that you are taking a social responsibility towards them, their family and their circumstances. Don't hire someone if it's not really accurate.
Key 2. If at the time of contracting you already know that the contract will have a certain duration, let them know. The worker will have the possibility to organize himself based on this information that you have provided him and he will know from the beginning that the day of dismissal will come. If the worker does not know this circumstance, the time of dismissal will be more traumatic than necessary.
Now, if the dismissal is due to unsuccessful causes, and the need to dismiss one or more workers with sufficient time in advance has not been foreseen, you can follow some guidelines that, although they will not alleviate the discomfort of the moment, can help the dismissal do not cause significant worker discomfort:
A. You are fired. It is a difficult phrase to pronounce, but the fact of delaying the moment will not help you or the worker to have a different attitude when they hear it. The most recommended is that, once alone with the worker, make her sit down and after a brief greeting and a silence that does not last more than five seconds tell her that, feeling very sorry, the company should dispense with its services.
B. State the reasons well. The dismissed worker probably will not react immediately. At this point you should state the reasons for this decision in an organized manner. It must be done in a concise and slow way, giving the worker time to internalize these reasons so that, once alone, he can think clearly about what happened.
C. Don't lie but help. At the time of firing a person, there are plenty of expressions such as "I'm going to see if I can do something so they don't fire you" "I'm going to see if I can put you in another department". To create false expectations for a person is to play with her feelings.
If you really have an option to help the worker in any way, don't wait for the layoff to do so. There is no better way to fire a worker than to offer her another job similar to the current one. Of course, it must be a real and true offer, and not a mere assumption or forecast.
D. The moment of dismissal. Before continuing, you should bear in mind that in most cases, the worker has the right to be notified 15 days in advance (it will depend on various factors). However, it is not recommended to offer the 15 days to avoid that during this time the worker suffers the consideration of the colleagues, he has to inform different people every day and / or is asked by some.
On the other hand, in these fifteen days the worker is not motivated, which means that the involvement in work is less than usual. If you do not offer advance notice, however, you will have to compensate the worker financially by paying him the 15 days that he has not given prior notice.
Taking this into account, the professionals do not agree on when the dismissal should take place. This decision must be made depending on various human factors that may affect the worker. Some options, pros and cons:
- Monday. Monday is a good date because the worker comes alive after the weekend. He comes with a positive attitude and this is reflected favorably at the time of dismissal. In contrast we find that the worker the next day feels disoriented. On Tuesday you won't have to get up to go to work. The disorientation is greater than at other times on Friday. Friday is positive because the worker has two days to think about what happened. You can easily disconnect from the problem by talking to friends, family, going outside… The downside is that the weekend can be, at the same time, a favorable time for a state of discouragement. First thing in the morning. The worker has the possibility to say goodbye to his coworkers and clients.The con is that some workers prefer to leave without making rumors, or false dismissals or false considerations. Late in the afternoon. Same as in the previous case but with the formulas inverted. My advice. The option that I consider most appropriate, in order to cause the least harm to the worker, is to practice dismissal on Thursday morning. In this way we achieve that the worker can say goodbye to his clients and colleagues and be encouraged by them, that he can organize a farewell meal, that he collect his personal objects, that he organize the pending issues, that he assumes throughout the day the fact of dismissal.in order to cause the least harm to the worker, it is to practice dismissal on Thursday morning. In this way we achieve that the worker can say goodbye to his clients and colleagues and be encouraged by them, that he can organize a farewell meal, that he collect his personal objects, that he organize the pending issues, that he assumes throughout the day the fact of dismissal.in order to cause the least harm to the worker, it is to practice dismissal on Thursday morning. In this way we achieve that the worker can say goodbye to his clients and colleagues and be encouraged by them, that he can organize a farewell meal, that he collect his personal objects, that he organize the pending issues, that he assumes throughout the day the fact of dismissal.
On the other hand, and taking into account that the last day of work is not usually the most productive, it would make it easier for the worker to leave the company immediately if they prefer. The fact that it is on Thursday makes Friday see it as a foretaste of the weekend (it is as if it were a bridge with the positive implications that this entails) so that later on it can be encouraged during the weekend by friends and relatives.
On the possibility that the worker feels a state of discouragement, it can be said that this is possibly inevitable.
In my opinion it is the day the dismissal is practiced, and since the next day he will not work (whether it is the weekend or not), this state can always arise.
E. Who makes the dismissal. Some professionals believe that the person who should make the dismissal is the direct superior, although accompanied by the person in charge of the HR department if there is one or a co-worker so that the person who is dismissing (who also suffers the moment) have a foothold and also this second person can act as a witness in a trial if necessary.
Perhaps, in my opinion, this second person is unnecessary. Mainly because the moment of dismissal is bitter for the one who dismisses, but it is more so for the dismissed. Therefore, the fewer people there are at the time of communication, the less violent the moment will be. In any case, if there are problems and the worker does not accept the dismissal, that colleague can always be called so that he can now act as a witness.
F. Others. There are some aspects that seem fundamental to me so that the moment of dismissal is not more painful than necessary. Immediately request the entrance card to the building, automatically block the worker's passwords or similar events, they should only be adopted in cases that, due to the response of the employee, are considered necessary in order to avoid fraudulently using the means given by the company..
As you will see, firing is not easy, but the person who is going to fire a worker has to be aware of what they are going to do, be sure that there is no other more viable option, and above all and above all, think that the worker is a person who depends to a great extent on the income obtained through work, so it should be tried, whenever possible, to make the dismissal with the utmost respect, being clear, sincere and humane.
