Terminations, and “requests” for resignation are delicate moments for all HR managers. Expert Paul Falcone offers advice about how to handle these tricky questions, and we introduce an all-answers-in-one-place HR website.
Falcone, a prolific writer on HR topics and a popular speaker, is VP, Employee Relations, at Time Warner Cable in Los Angeles. He is the author of SHRM best-selling 101 Tough Conversations to Have with Employees: A Manager’s Guide to Performance, Conduct, and Discipline Challenges.
Falcone offered additional tips for tough conversations yesterday’s Advisor and in the July 21 issue.
Layoff/Position Elimination
“I just want to thank you for all your hard work and dedication over the past 2 years and say I’m sorry that this is happening. You’ve made it a better place around here, and I’m going to miss working with you. Thank you for all you’ve done for us.”
Question: Why was my position chosen for elimination?
Answer: “It was a business decision. Please don’t take this personally; when a reduction in force occurs, positions are eliminated. The people who are attached to those jobs then get laid off. It’s the hardest thing a manager can do—selecting positions for elimination is so difficult because you realize that people’s lives will be interrupted. That’s why I’m so sorry that this is occurring.”
Question: Who else is being laid off? Am I the only one in our department? Why me?
Answer: “Laura, I can’t share who else is being laid off in the department at this point. We haven’t spoken to the other individual(s) yet, so I’d ask that you allow me to hold off on answering that for now.”
[Or]
“Yes, yours is the only position in our department that’s being eliminated. Again, please don’t feel that you’ve disappointed anyone. I want you to know that you’re eligible for rehire once the hiring freeze is lifted, although we can’t guarantee that.
“For now, though, understand that we had to eliminate one headcount, and purely from a functional standpoint, your position made the most sense.”
Question: Wait. You can’t lay me off and keep Susan. I have more longevity than she does!
Answer: “I recognize that. I want you to know that we did indeed consider tenure in our decision, but it wasn’t the only factor. We also looked at how the roles could be reconfigured and redesigned when determining who would be qualified to assume the remaining job duties after the reduction-in-force. Why don’t we talk about the benefits that will help you move forward with your career?”
In general, says Falcone, answer a few questions, and then move the person on to talk about benefits and the future.
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Incentivizing Longer-Term Employees to Leave When There’s No Corrective Action on File
“It appears that you may not be happy in this role, and I suspect that your supervisor may not be happy either.
“Beginning the progressive disciplinary process could ultimately result in a termination for cause, which is something I know you wouldn’t want on your record after so many years at our company.
“I want to be sure that you feel like you have options here:
- If you choose to stay and work
- If you’d prefer to schedule a timeline where you could look for work while still remaining employed with us, we could help with that as well.
- And if you’d prefer to leave the company now, we wouldn’t contest your unemployment. We’d respect your decision to leave on your own terms and will work with you to craft a message that we’re both comfortable with.
“I just don’t want you to feel like you’re heading down this irreversible path—Life is really too short for that, so please sleep on this and let me know how I could help.”
Terminations: They’re always a challenge for any HR manager. Of course, terminations are just one of what, a couple of dozen recurring HR challenges? What about new COBRA rules, FMLA intermittent leave, overtime, ADA accommodation, and sexual harassment, to name just a few?
You need a go-to resource, and our editors recommend the “everything HR in one website,” HR.BLR.com. As an example of what you will find, here are some policy recommendations concerning e-mail, excerpted from a sample policy on the website:
Privacy. The director of information services can override any individual password and thus has access to all e-mail messages in order to ensure compliance with company policy. This means that employees do not have an expectation of privacy in their company e-mail or any other information stored or accessed on company computers.
E-mail review. All e-mail is subject to review by management. Your use of the e-mail system grants consent to the review of any of the messages to or from you in the system in printed form or in any other medium.
Solicitation. In line with our general nonsolicitation policy, e-mail must not be used to solicit for outside business ventures, personal parties, social meetings, charities, membership in any organization, political causes, religious causes, or other matters not connected to the company’s business.
We should point out that this is just one of hundreds of sample policies on the site. (You’ll also find analysis of laws and issues, job descriptions, and complete training materials for hundreds of HR topics.)
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