Hiring and Firing (The Brian Tracy Success Library)

by Brian Tracy

The person who you would not hire back again today is a major source of your problems and difficulties as a manager.

There is a rule: “The best time to fire a person is the first time it crosses your mind.”

The primary reason that managers do not fire someone is cowardice.

WHEN FIRING is inevitable, be prepared to protect yourself and your company.

The most powerful tool you can have when letting someone go is a paper trail of documented discussions about performance problems that you have had with this person.

The general rule for firing is: “One, two, three, and you’re out.” What this means is that if you have documented performance reviews with

the failing employee at least three times,

William James once wrote, “The starting point in dealing with any difficulty is to be willing to have it so.”

Once you have determined that this is the decision that has to be made, an enormous amount of your stress and tension will evaporate. You are now ready to take the final step.

Finally, don’t beat around the bush. Be direct. Come straight to the point.

“Joe (or Susan), I have given your job situation a lot of thought. And I have decided that this is not the right job for you, and that you are not the right person for this job. And I think you would be happier doing something else.”

Once you have decided to let the person go, your job is to be respectful and to protect the other person’s self-esteem.

Avoid any temptation to make the fired employee feel guilty for anything done or not done in the past.

Instead, just keep repeating the magic words, over and over. “I don’t think that this is the right job for you, and you are not the right person for this job, and I think you would be happier doing something else.”