Managing Employees and HR

Firing the Right Way

SBOCTeam — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:13:00 GMT

How To Make a Difficult Task a Little Bit Easier

By Christopher Freeburn

There are few tasks less pleasant than firing an employee. There are bound to be hurt feelings and often emotions can run high. As difficult as losing a job is for the soon-to-be-former employee, however, informing him or her of that fact can be profoundly upsetting for the employer as well, particularly in a small business setting. Worse, terminating employment can produce more than simple emotional risks. Wrongful termination lawsuits can be costly for a small business-in terms of both time and money-even if successfully defended.

So how can you minimize the stress and potential legal risks of terminating an employee?

Document your reasons
Though many states still maintain the "at will" doctrine of employment (which states that an employer can fire an employee at any time for almost any reason), many other states place some restrictions on employers regarding job termination. "Realize that even an ‘at will' employment status has an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing," says Dr. Joanne Sujansky, founder and CEO of Key Group, a Pittsburgh-based consulting firm. "Due to this, fire with cause whenever possible and make sure to document poor performance or disciplinary offenses as they occur." Sujansky advises issuing written warnings to the employee that outline the consequences should he or she fail to improve. "If an employee's performance doesn't improve, he or she will be prepared for the consequences and you will be protected when firing the person."

Check your state's labor laws to make sure you are within your legal rights before terminating an employee. Additionally, anti-discrimination statutes common in most states can provide the terminated employee with a possible basis to pursue a legal complaint. Thus it is important for an employer to maintain sufficient documentation to clearly demonstrate that the job termination was for a valid cause and did not involve any form of legally prohibited discrimination.

For this reason, it is important for employers to keep good records on their employees and to have explained, in detail and in writing, to each employee exactly what their job entails. Having some form of employee handbook, spelling out unacceptable workplace behavior, and providing a structure for evaluating employee performance is especially helpful. If an employee has been warned about their performance, maintaining a written record of those warnings is important.

It is equally important that employers demonstrate consistent behavior toward all employees. If you tolerate tardiness from one employee, but fire another for the same, you are risking a lawsuit.

The firing process
The actual act of firing someone is rarely pleasant, but you can take steps to make the process as painless as possible.

Plan ahead. Know what you are going to say before you meet with the employee. Be able to explain your decision clearly and simply. Get to the point right away, and keep the meeting as short as possible. Dragging out the conversation only makes it worse for everyone involved.

Don't do it publicly. Firing an employee in front of his co-workers is unprofessional. Worse, it can lead to lowered office morale and become a factor in any potential litigation. Remember that juries tend to be sympathetic to workers. The firing should be done in private away from other workers.

Don't waste time. Get right to the point. "Don't start the conversation with idle chit chat, such as talking about the weather, the kids, the newest client, etc.," says Sujansky. "Don't offer the employee coffee or water or food. You want him out quickly." The sooner the firing is over, the better for all concerned.

Have a witness on hand. If you company has a human resources manager, then he or she should be present, as well as the employee's immediate supervisor.

Be clear. Explain exactly why the employee is being fired. Concentrate on his or her failure to perform according to expectations. Provide a written statement, spelling out the reasons for the termination.

Pay them. Have a check ready covering any final salary owed to the employee. If a severance package is to be offered, that should also be put in writing. In most states an employer is required to pay any outstanding salary by the next scheduled payday. Money owed by the employee to the firm cannot be deducted from the paycheck. Some states require payment for accrued vacation days. Check the labor laws in your state to make sure you pay the terminated employee everything he or she is owed. "Failure to pay terminated employees in accordance with state laws can result in civil and criminal penalties," Sujansky warns.

Be polite and professional. Losing a job can be an emotional experience. Be sympathetic, but firm.

Collect company property. This includes company IDs, company credit cards, office or company car keys, or any company owned materials that the employee may possess.

Change passwords. If the employee has access to the company computer network or online systems, cancel his or her password immediately to prevent any potential theft of company information or malicious tampering.

Keep if Confidential. Office gossip is a fact of life in any business. However, allowing the details of an employee's termination to become common knowledge in the office is unprofessional. Simply inform your other employees that the terminated worker is no longer employed at your firm and leave it at that.

An ounce of prevention
Of course, the best way to avoid the unpleasantness that accompanies firing an employee is to make sure the people you hire are a good fit for the job in the first place. A rigorous screening procedure during the hiring process, including a background check, detailed interview and clear description of the position, will go a long way toward making sure you attract the best employees for your business.

Engaging From Afar

SBOCTeam — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:49:00 GMT

Keeping remote employees engaged can be a difficult task for a small business owner. But when managed well, your off-site employees can be just as productive as the ones you see every day.

by Max Berry

Sometime during the 20th century, the water cooler assumed a crucial position in the American office-it became a trading post not only for gossip and recaps of last night's television shows, but also for ideas and advice. With a growing number of 21st-century employees working remotely, the water cooler is a quieter place, its role more often filled by e-mail and instant messaging, videoconferences and webinars. Trading ideas used to be simpler, but that doesn't mean your small business has to endure a communication breakdown. Here are a few ways to keep your remote employees engaged and the conversation flowing.

Remote Connection
"It's all about staying connected," says management consultant Carol Hacker of managing remote employees. Regular contact via phone, e-mail, VoIP- or instant message is of course necessary for monitoring work flow and hashing out ideas, but members of a team who aren't working side by side need an established forum, one that can be accessed around the clock, on which to collaborate and check in with their colleagues.

Remote access services like those provided by Citrix (citrix.com) allow for remote workers to securely access and update centrally maintained information from their computers as easily as if they were working in the home office. Microsoft® Office Groove® offers a similar service, along with the capability to share files and create a workspace accessible to every member of your team.

With remote access to company information comes an increased security risk. However a manager chooses to keep his or her employees connected, an annual consultation with an IT specialist will help to ensure that remote connections to sensitive company and client data remain secure.

Being Clear: The Golden Rule
Once a reliable system is in place for remote employees to connect to the central office, a manager needs to set specific protocol for relations between the two entities. Since a manager can't be on-site to monitor remote employees directly, Hacker recommends creating a reference manual for remote workers. The manual should provide detailed summaries of company policy regarding data security and backup, project deadlines, appropriate use of company-issued equipment (especially notebook computers and other portable devices), the frequency with which a remote employee is expected to check in with the manager, and appropriate response times to requests and inquiries from the central office.

As Hacker puts it, "The most critical thing a manager can do is manage expectations." This means delineating, on a project-by-project basis, the objectives, deadlines, and anticipated challenges of every task a remote employee takes on.

Of course, the value of a remote employee's work can't be judged by hours logged in the office. Since they are not able to observe the way a remote employee goes about his or her task, managers must set clear guidelines pointing their employees to the desired end result. Assessing a remote worker's job performance requires a manager to trust the employee to meet company standards using his or her own strategy and technique. "Managers need to measure success by results," says Hacker, "not activity."

Keeping The ‘I' Team
A major component in job satisfaction is working with others toward a common goal. Feeling isolated from the rest of the team can diminish a remote employee's morale and hurt job performance. It is up to the manager to keep a sense of camaraderie and singular purpose among employees, remote and otherwise.

The first thing to remember is that some employees simply aren't cut out for remote work. Either they need supervision to be productive or they simply get listless if they aren't around a surplus of people. Managers looking to hire remotely should address these issues during the interview phase to make sure a new employee can handle the remote environment.

Regularly scheduled face-to-face meetings and social events can stave off the disconnected feeling in remote workers, as can the occasional "just because" call. "Don't always call [remote employees] when there's big news," advises Hacker. "Call to check in." Informal gestures like this quash the potential for a Charlie's Angels dynamic, in which a recognizably named-but eternally unseen-leader provides instructions only when necessary, and only by telephone.

But the opposite tack can be problematic as well. Hacker warns of becoming a "helicopter manager," an employer who compensates for a lack of face time by checking in too often, hovering from afar. This can be just as damaging as infrequent or impersonal contact. "It speaks to a manager not trusting his or her employees," says Hacker. "If you do that, you're going to alienate your best people."

Of course, employing remote workers also offers myriad benefits to employees, managers, and clients. A satellite office in a different time zone means staggered hours to help meet customer needs. A prospective employee who would have faced a long commute to a company's central office may be closer to a satellite office or, if both manager and worker are okay with the idea, may even be willing to telecommute. Remote offices with small staffs appeal to workers who prefer quiet and detest interruptions. And this is to say nothing of what working remotely can do for an employee's confidence. "Remote employees have the ability to approach their work according to their own strength and preferences," says Hacker. "They're almost entrepreneurs."