How to Fire Someone the Right Way

It's never easy to look someone in the eye and tell them that they are fired. Luckily for me, Nick was able to show me the correct way to fire an under-achieving employee in a less stressful manor!

With our Promotions Director Nick leaving us, I have some big shoes to fill. My biggest concern with taking over his position was the management aspect of it. I've never been in a position to fire anybody before, and just the thought of it made me nervous. Knowing this, Nick thought it would be beneficial to practice by firing him.

The first thing that I learned was to hit the employee with the facts -- always come prepared with documented evidence of poor work ethic or a list of complaints. And that I did.

Every time I got on a roll, he tried to interrupt me, but I know that was just him testing my ability to take control of the situation. I calmly (but firmly) would tell him to let me finish until I got to the end of his termination.

Lastly, he taught me to end on a compliment. Upon doing that, I could feel the mood in the room lightening up, making the firing much less awkward.

All in all, I don't think firing someone is that hard. In fact, I thought I was quite good at it. I am glad I got that last lesson in with Nick before he left, because for some reason, he won't speak to me anymore. I think he took his mock-firing personally...