by Alison Green
As we describe later in the chapter, you might consider using the coaching-out option that we describe later in the chapter by asking the employee if she feels the role is the right one for her and seeing where the conversation leads. You might jointly agree to a solution that works better for both of you, giving the staff member time to search for a new job and you to look for a replacement without having a vacancy.
In some cases, the staff member will make the improvements needed after an informal warning. If she does, congratulate her, be specific about what’s better and why, and make clear that she needs to sustain the improvement.
PREPPING FOR PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE CONVERSATIONS
1. Discuss the situation with your manager ahead of time, so that she is in the loop on the problems and your approach.
2. Prepare talking points. Treat the conversation the way you would an important presentation, outlining your points and how you will make them. Having a “script” to fall back on will make you more comfortable and make the conversation go more smoothly.
3. Use your manager, a friend, or a colleague to practice the meeting. Identify and repeatedly practice the hardest part—whatever it is that you find yourself most reluctant to say. Whatever you do, don’t wing it!
4. Keep in mind that you are engaging in this conversation because you are acting in the organization’s best interest. For you to be effective in your job, you have to develop a high-performing team.
Step Two: Formal Warning
When sufficient improvement doesn’t happen, the next step is to move to a formal warning. Your goal here is to be explicit about the fact that dismissal is now a very real possibility and to give the staff member a final chance to make the needed improvements. Here is how the meeting might go:
1. At the start of the meeting, explain that you haven’t seen the changes you discussed at the previous meeting and now need to put the staff member on a formal written improvement plan, setting areas for improvement and a time line.
2. Be explicit about the standard you need the staffer to meet and the time line for meeting it. Long, drawn-out probationary periods generally aren’t necessary, since you should look for improvement in weeks, not months.
3. Clearly state the consequences if performance does not improve. Explain that the staffer will lose her job if she does not improve to the level you are specifying. We cannot overstate the importance of this step. Managers often find these words hard to say, and you may worry about damaging the person’s morale with this warning. But however difficult it may be to raise the possibility of termination, it’s far worse for the employee not to know that she risks being fired. Sometimes managers think, “Surely she knows her job is in danger given the serious talks we’ve been having and the level of my concern.” Yet many people have a startling inability to hear negative input. In addition, if the employee has struggled professionally in the past, she may think negative feedback is normal and not realize that you, unlike her previous bosses, actually plan to do something about it. So fairness demands that you be explicit and never assume that an employee will figure out the severity or possible consequences on her own.
4. Establish the next steps. For instance, you might say, “I’d like you to come up with a system for better tracking deadlines right away. Send that to me by tomorrow, and then let’s check back in two weeks to see how it’s going, and we’ll do the final review four weeks from today. If you’ve met and continue to sustain the level we just discussed, we’ll move forward. If you don’t improve, though, then we will have to let you go.”
5. Follow up with a written summary of your conversation, like the one in Tool 9.3, laying out your expectations and the consequences for not meeting them. This is essential, so that there can be no doubt that the staff member heard the message and understands the key points and so that the consequences of not improving are in writing. As part of the document, include clear criteria for how you’ll judge success. For instance, on an improvement plan for a struggling assistant, you might specify that success means no dropped balls over a three-week period and no more than one instance of inaccuracy (such as a meeting listed on the calendar at the wrong time).
WHAT ABOUT MOVING PEOPLE TO DIFFERENT ROLES?
Sometimes a manager, in a last-ditch attempt to salvage an employee, will move the person into another role in the organization. In our experience, this is rarely successful if it’s done in order to address a problem. Someone who has failed to meet a bar for performance in one role within an organization often lacks the requisite talent or values to excel in other roles within the same organization. She may be able to survive in a new role better than in the old, but rarely will she be so strong that she will become the type of high performer you ultimately need.
Usually when managers try this, it’s because they are uncomfortable making a decision that feels as difficult as letting someone go, so they take a less drastic course. But in doing so, they stretch out the problem.
That said, we have seen a limited number of cases where shifting roles has worked. In these situations, the staffer was a very strong cultural fit with the organization and had strong talents, but those talents were better suited to a different role. For instance, in one case, a regional director lacked the assertiveness necessary to move his region forward as quickly as was needed, but he was a great culture fit and an outstanding writer, so he was switched to a role where he could apply that talent, and he thrived.
Step Three: Letting People Go
By this step, you should either be seeing improvement or know that it’s not going to work out. As you watch for improvement, don’t get sidetracked by incremental improvements. Small improvements can feel promising, but hold out for your ultimate goal of outstanding performance. The staff member doesn’t need to become great overnight, but you should see a steep climb in that direction. A climb to “barely acceptable” isn’t what you’re looking for here.
In some cases, the staff member will be able to make the improvements needed. When this happens, as at the informal warning step, be sure you tell her explicitly what you’ve noticed and what an improvement she’s made. At the same time, the improvement must be sustained over time, so make sure she understands that if the problems recur, you will not go through the entire process all over again.
In other cases, you will not see the improvement you need. When that happens, it’s time to move the person out. If you have followed the progressive discipline process, the employee has been clearly told about the problems and what needs to change, warned that the progress isn’t what it needs to be, and explicitly told that her job is in jeopardy if specific changes don’t occur. When the termination conversation happens, it’s more of a wrap-up than anything else; it shouldn’t be a surprise.
Here is how to go about this step (Tool 9.4 provides a sample script):
1. Decide ahead of time about logistics, such as whether you will offer severance and how much, and whether the person will be expected to leave the office immediately or will have until the end of the day.
2. Some organizations have a third person in the room during a firing to corroborate what was said in case the employee later sues. Generally this is a human resources staffer or another manager above you. However, if your staff is small, it may be impossible to find a third party who could sit in without violating the employee’s privacy and dignity.
3. Begin the conversation with a statement like, “I want to have a conversation about your progress in the areas of concern we’ve discussed.”
4. Be direct and to the point. Announce your decision at the start of the conversation, because you don’t want the employee to think she’s supposed to be defending herself or thinking of an improvement plan when you have already made your decision. Say something like, “We talked last month about the fact that if these issues didn’t change, I would need to look for a replacement. Unfortunately, although you have made some progress, it hasn’t been enough, so we’re now at the point where we�
��re going to have to let you go, and today is going to be your last day.”
5. Be honest about the reason for the firing. Sometimes a manager will come up with a cover story for the firing, thinking the real reason will hurt the employee’s feelings. (Often managers use a cover story because they haven’t been direct enough about the problems earlier. You, of course, have followed the steps we have set out and won’t find yourself in this situation.) Not being honest can come back to haunt you (we address legal issues later in this chapter).
6. Be compassionate. It’s okay to say, “I know this is hard” or, “I really do appreciate your efforts.” Even if you’ve been incredibly frustrated with the employee, you can allow yourself to feel and express genuine compassion. When at all feasible, try to truly believe this is a case of a bad fit rather than that the employee is incompetent, unmotivated, or difficult. Going into the meeting with this mind-set will change the way you come across, which will help to defuse the situation and help the employee keep his or her dignity.
7. Be clear that this decision is final. If the employee tries to change your mind, don’t enter into prolonged discussion, which can make the employee think the decision is up for debate. Instead, say something like, “I realize that we see this differently, but the decision is final.” In addition, ask for input from the employee only if you mean it. Don’t ask questions like, “What do you think about this?” or “Does this make sense?” unless you mean to start a conversation. Present options only where there is a real choice. For instance, a staff member might be able to choose between different forms of a severance package but not about whether you are firing her.
8. Consider a communications plan. Depending on the circumstances, you and the staff member might agree on a plan for explaining the change to the rest of the organization in a way that fairly reflects the situation and respects the staff member’s privacy.
9. Cover all the details the employee may be wondering about, such as the effective date of the termination, COBRA benefits (which give employees the right to continue health benefits at their own cost), the final paycheck, and so forth.
10. When it’s all over, debrief with your manager or a trusted advisor. As part of your commitment to continuous improvement, we recommend asking whether there’s anything you can learn from the situation. While some number of terminations will always be unavoidable, it’s worth asking some hard questions. Are there ways to improve your interview process to ferret out these sorts of problems before hiring a new employee? Did the choice result from hiring that person under pressure? Use terminations as a trigger for reflection and see if you might be able to strengthen your processes for the future.
Logistics.
Organizations vary widely in how much time they give a dismissed employee to leave. Some expect employees to leave immediately, and others allow more time. Generally employees who have been coached out may stay for weeks or even several months, while employees who have been fired outright typically are expected to leave that same day. And if you have any cause to worry about an employee’s reaction, you may prefer to err on the side of caution and have the person leave immediately.
In all cases, consider logistics such as disabling the person’s access to e-mail and computer networks. You’ll also need to arrange for the return of keys and any company property (such as a laptop, cell phone, or credit card), as well as establish with other staffers how the person’s e-mail, voice mail, and computer files will be handled.
Severance pay.
We’re big fans of being as generous with severance payments as you can—not only because it’s a nice thing to do for your staff member, but also because knowing that the staffer will receive severance pay may make you more comfortable moving forward with a transition. A generous severance package can save the organization money if it gives you mental permission to move aggressively rather than spending several months going through a performance warning process with a forgone conclusion.
In fact, you can also consider offering extended health care coverage and time to job search in order to ease the transition. (A lawyer would stress that it’s key to treat similarly situated people similarly, but there’s often room to find ways to help the person out in order to give yourself psychological permission to take action.)
However, if you do offer severance pay, tie it to a smooth transition. This gives you some leverage to prevent the employee from wreaking havoc before leaving. And in all cases, severance should be contingent on the employee’s signing a general release agreement, forfeiting any future legal claims.
Coaching Out: An Alternative Approach
Sometimes you may determine that a progressive discipline process won’t lead to the steep improvement that you need. Rather than drag the employee through a formal improvement process, knowing deep down that you’ll almost surely be letting her go at the end of it, we believe that coaching out can be a far more effective and kinder approach. Coaching out involves an honest conversation about the employee’s fundamental fitness for the role. It is aimed at convincing the employee that continued tenure in the role doesn’t make sense and agreeing on a smooth transition plan. This allows her time to search for another job and you time to search for a replacement.
This approach is often the right choice for mediocre performers. These are people whose performance is not terrible—that is, you may not be able to document many egregious instances of poor performance—but whose performance doesn’t reach the high bar you need in the role. It’s also a good choice when you have a long-term, loyal employee whom the organization has simply outgrown.
In our experience, coaching out can turn a potentially difficult and unpleasant situation into one that ends with all parties satisfied. The key is to talk honestly and recognize that the employee may simply be miscast in the role, stealing a phrase from Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman in their First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently. Buckingham and Coffman point out that poor performers often aren’t untalented or unmotivated, but rather are in a role that is a fundamental mismatch with their true strengths. That belief is at the core of coaching out.
Buckingham and Coffman suggest thinking of it as “tough love”: you’re not going to compromise on your standards and what the organization needs, but you care about the employee and want to see her in a role where she’ll blossom. You want to help her move out of a situation that is holding her back from true success and toward opportunities where her talents will be better used.
Here’s an example of how this can work in real life. A few years ago, Alison had an employee whose work was good but not stellar. The employee frequently got frustrated and resentful over several demands of the job, snapped at people, and constantly needed to be calmed down. Numerous conversations hadn’t improved things, so Alison tried a different approach. She sat down with him and acknowledged that he was frustrated by these particular things but that they simply weren’t going to change because they were inherent parts of the job and that they couldn’t be constantly battling over them. Rather than seeing him struggle in a job that obviously was making him frustrated and stressed, Alison wanted him to figure out if he could really be happy in the position, knowing that the things he was complaining about weren’t going to change. She asked him to take a few days and think about whether he wanted the job in its current form, as opposed to the job he kept trying to change it into, and she told him that if he decided it just wasn’t for him, there was no shame in that and she would help him in the transition out.
Several days later, the employee told Alison that he realized he should move on. During the next month, he worked on organizing his files and leaving his work in good order, he trained his replacement, and Alison helped him brainstorm about jobs he’d be happy in. On his last day, he confessed that he was shocked that such a potentially awful conversation had actually been pleasant. And since then, he’s stayed in touch, periodically sending helpful leads and information.
> In other words, coaching out can transform a situation that many managers would otherwise expect to be uncomfortable or even contentious. Here are some keys to making coaching out work smoothly (Tool 9.5 offers a sample coaching-out script):
Begin a coaching-out conversation with a statement like this: “I want to talk with you about your fit for this role and some of our options for moving forward.”
Try to make the conversation as collaborative as possible. The overall tone of the meeting should be that you want to jointly figure out a way forward that will be best for both the employee and the organization.
Focus on the high bar for performance you’re setting rather than ways in which the staff member has truly messed up (because in the case of a merely mediocre performer, instances of a massive mistake may be rare). Frame the conversation by laying out what the ideal performer in the role would do, and then focus on the gap between the staff member’s performance and that bar. Use a format similar to, “What we need is someone who can do X. I see your strengths as being more Y”—for instance, “We need someone who can forge new relationships where nothing existed previously. I see your strengths as more working with existing partners to develop programs that meet their needs.”
In some cases, the bar may be higher than in the past because of changed circumstances, such as organizational growth or the changing demands of the job. Prepare to tell the story of why that is the case: “We used to have people coming to us, so going out and starting new relationships wasn’t important, but as we seek to grow to new parts of the region, we need to be more proactive.”
Depending on the circumstances, you might offer the staff member two options: pursue an improvement plan under your progressive discipline policy and try to meet the bar you’re describing, with the understanding that she could be let go if she doesn’t improve, or you can jointly form a transition plan that will give her time to search for another job while giving you time to look for a successor.
