While in an ideal world, as a manager, you’d hire the perfect talent each and every time, and all of your employees would be strong performers with great attitudes, in reality, it doesn’t always work out that way, and certain flags may only show up later on. Whether it’s an issue with someone’s attitude, behavior, performance, relationships, or any other factor that may influence their fit within the team and company, at some point in time, you will likely confront one of the hardest parts about being a manager: deciding when it’s time to let someone go.
How do you determine when your team member’s behavior or performance is simply no longer the right fit for the company? How many chances should you give someone before making the call?
Here are some tips for navigating this difficult question.
Check in with yourself
First and foremost, when you’re having doubts about a certain team member, it’s important to check in with yourself. Consider how long you’ve been feeling this way to ensure the decision isn’t rash or reactive, and try to determine whether or not you’ve actually given them the feedback and tools they need to address your concerns and improve. If your employee would be shocked to find out that you feel like things aren’t working, you likely haven’t given them the direction and guidance they would need to make things better. On the other hand, if you’ve done everything you can on your end to fix things, and things still haven’t changed, it’s a pretty solid indication that things aren’t going to improve.
Do some digging
Check in with additional stakeholders at your organization who work closely with the team member you’re having doubts about in order to get a feel for how others see this person and their work. Try to specifically reach out to people more senior than the individual in question to ensure there’s no ego involved and you don’t put anyone in an uncomfortable position. Of course, if a team member at their level brings the person up to you in conversation, use it as an opportunity to hear their perspective.
Additionally, recognize that what you ask should vary according to your specific concerns. For example, if you feel like an individual is underperforming, your questions should be regarding their work output and deliverables. On the other hand, if you believe they’re bringing poor attitudes and harming the group dynamic, you should focus your questions on their communication skills and collaboration experiences. These conversations are a great way to understand the various issues that may exist and piece together certain themes. It also enables you to come to the team member with a more well-rounded picture and clearer feedback.
Have a transparent conversation
Schedule a meeting to have the difficult but necessary conversation about your current concerns. Come prepared with feedback, context, and examples – making sure to preface examples by emphasizing these are simply examples to help convey the point in order to ensure the team member doesn’t linger on a specific instance or focus too heavily on defending a single moment. Additionally, be gentle with your phrasing while still being intentional about sending a clear message that their future at the company is in question.
In this conversation, it’s important to give your team member the opportunity to share how they’re feeling and where they think the gaps are coming from. Perhaps there is something going on in their personal life that you didn’t know about or they were having issues at work that you weren’t aware of. Regardless, let them be open with you, and honestly ask them what they need from you to ensure things improve. As a manager, it’s important to recognize that 70% of the variance in employee engagement is determined solely by the manager, according to a Gallup study, so while you can’t control everything, you do certainly influence the employee experience – and changes might be helpful on your end as well.
Assess reactions
The way in which your team member responds throughout this challenging conversation – from their openness to improve to their attitude towards feedback – can provide tremendous insight into how to move forward. So, pay attention to their reactions during the conversation and then take a moment after the fact to ask yourself:
- Were they receptive to your feedback?
- Do they seem motivated to correct things or more frustrated and withdrawn?
- Did they take responsibility for their shortcomings or simply try to place the blame on others?
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How do I feel now after this conversation? Better? The same? Worse?
The answers to all of these questions can help guide your next steps forward. If you were happy with how they navigated the conversation, your concerns may be fixable. However, if you didn’t feel like they handled the conversation well, it unfortunately may be a sign that things aren’t going to change.
Align expectations
Explicitly convey to your team members what they need to do in order to ease your current concerns. At some organizations, this step is called a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), which formally outlines an employee's performance deficiencies, and provides a timeline and goal-oriented plan to help them improve. Regardless of what you call it, this process is meant to align expectations and set shared timelines between you, your employee, and a relevant HR team member, for when you expect to see real changes in order to ensure that your employee understands what’s expected from them going forward and that nothing comes as a shock later on.
Trust your gut
While it’s never an easy decision to make, if after all of this you’re still not feeling satisfied with your employee’s role on your team, it’s unfortunately time to let the person go. Trust your gut as the manager, and recognize that sometimes it’s better to move on than try to fight for someone who isn’t ultimately right for your team anymore. That said, make sure you’ve done everything you can on your part to support the team member and end on respectful terms because even after leaving, this person is still a brand ambassador for your organization.
Stay tuned for next week’s tips on how to navigate the process of letting someone go!
