Merge's Blog

Motivating staff after an employee termination – four must-do’s

A couple of years ago, I blogged about The (only) four reasons for employee non-performance in which I outlined the four possibilities that leaders should explore when trying to understand why their employees aren’t making the cut. Ultimately though, when an employee doesn’t perform to the expected level, you eventually may have no other alternative than to fire the person. Employee termination is likely one of the toughest things you’ve ever had to do as a supervisor or manager. You lost some sleep, sucked it up, took a deep breath and did it. So the hard part is over now, right? Wrong! Unfortunately, the hardest part is taking care of those who are left behind. The biggest challenges lie in the hours, days, weeks, and even months following. Any kind of employee termination can have a negative impact on the other members of your team unless you take positive steps to overcome it. Even if your staff “saw it coming” or felt “it’s about time,” the employee termination leaves remaining staff feeling insecure and vulnerable. Which means that you must take action, or run the risk of having your team weaken and falter.

The BC Human Resources Management Association‘s online magazine – HRVoice.org – recently published one of my articles that lays out four specific things that you should do to get your people re-grouped, re-focused, and moving forward after one of their co-workers has been let go. Read the article here:

Firing An Employee: How to Take Care of the Rest of Your Team

And then come on back to the blog and share your thoughts? Do I have it right? What have been your experiences? What have I missed? Add your Comments below.

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