Undoubtedly, there comes a time when a manager, due to business related situations, has to move towards staff reductions. Of course there comes a time when the manager him/her self is a victim of these reductions. After all, a manager is an employee like everyone else and subject to the same trials and tribulations as all other employees.
I/ve had various emails on the subject, and I’ve received a couple of horror stories indeed.
If you just got fired check out the article HERE !
Here’s how NOT to fire an employee:
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Don’t tell him or her in the elevator or through the phone while he or she is coming back from vacation or a business trip or during the holidays (one particular employee was called by the human resources director on Christmas day to announce that he was just released).
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Don’t imply or pressure him/her to quit. Be right to the point and take direct responsibility.
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Don’t take it beyond the boundaries of professionalism and don’t use threats like “if you don’t willingly leave, we’ll make things tough for you”. In other words don’t cross the line into an area you may not want to eventually tread. Sicilians before some sort of conflict always ask whether the person to be involved in the conflict has “balls”. This translates to how much he is willing to risk to get back at you. You’d be surprised how much people are willing to risk to get back at you if you cross the fine line between your job duties and their personal lives. Again, don’t threaten…its not part of your job as a manager under any circumstances.
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Make sure you know who you’re firing and why you’re firing her, and make sure that your decisions will benefit the company in the long term. I you’re firing someone competent because you want to replace him with an incompetent or lesser competent family member, then you’re engaged in a principle agent problem and you’re not working for the company’s interest but your own. People have a way of remembering these things and believe me, the world is small (especially if one day you end up working for the guy you just fired, which can very easily be the case if you’re in a small market in a particular industry).
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Don’t harass the employee’s to be fired family members if they work in the same company and don’t ask them to speak to the target employee on your behalf. This may again be deemed by the employee as a threat, and his/her reaction may be unpredictable and in many cases, justifiable even in a court of law.
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Don’t fire an employee without due notice. Calling him/her and dismissing him/her on the spot (unless there are justifiable security reasons; justify
those reasons) without notice or due preparations is inhumane, cowardly (actually spineless), and unprofessional…If you do this don’t preach professionalism or expect professionalism since you’re not acting professionally. -
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Don’t break the law even if you have the unfortunate task of being an ax man for the company (this is even worst if you’re the guy in charge of human resources); I have only seen this in one or two companies; thank God that most companies operating in serious business environments use HR for the right reasons and not just to take care of the “dirty work”.
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Don’t tell them they’re redundant.
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Don’t call your department Human Resources. Resources depreciate with time while humans appreciate with time. It’s called experience. For
example try fighting with a brand new young Karate black belt as opposed to an older Karate black belt that has live combat and street fighting experience. Tell you what; you bet on the young guy and I’ll put my life savings on the older dude. Also, again if HR is responsible for bearing the bad new make sure that the HR responsible is NOT a 
PSYCHO. -
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Don’t be a bad reference. The employee that lives will probably try to find work elsewhere. The potential employer may call you for references. If the employee was fired because of bad behavior or incompetence ok, do what you will (as long as were talking of documented proof, and not pitiful pointless perceptions). If the employee was wasted because of redundancy you owe it to him to help out in his attempts for a new job.
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Don’t tell the employee you’re getting rid of her because “the perceptions in the company are blah blah blah”. If your company is run by perceptions and not facts then I can guarantee you, you’ll be made redundant along with the rest of the management team soon enough.
Remember, that Management has power in the organization by the authority (and responsibility) placed on it by the lawfull owners of the company. When it comes to management employee relationships, management usually has the additional advantage because it works as a team, while the employee for job related situation (in the private sector) is usually alone.
If management abuses its role (or doesn’t have proper people skills) and pushes an employee far enough (ie. through coercive unlawfull under the table actions) then employees may possibly organize into collective action thus redistributing the coefficients of the eigenvectors that best describe the power game.
