The Top 5 Reasons to Terminate an Employee

The Top 5 Reasons to Terminate an EmployeeThe Top 5 Reasons to Terminate an EmployeeReasons to fire an employee include disciplinary and wertzuwachs issues that you canelend solve. Here are the top five reasons to fire an employee. Lack of Integrity An employee may lack integrity whereby youve caught them in repeated lies or underhanded actions. Lies by commission, omission, and obfuscation can chip away at the trust you have for an employee. An employee may believe that one little lie wont hurt their standing with the organization, but even the smallest lie or untruth, when discovered, can diminish your regard for the employee. And, because organizational teams are so entwined, its only a matter of time before youll find out that the employee lied. Lies of omission are just as deadly in chipping away at trust. In a lie of omission, the employee fails to give you particularly relevant pieces of information. Or, the employee leaves out the part of the story that will make him or h er look bad. When an employee fails to share the whole picture, you are often blindsided when you receive the rest of the information from aleidher source. The third way employees chip away at your belief in their integrity is through obfuscation. They may believe that if they muddy the water enough, or overwhelm you with details, then you may not see that their performance has been subpar. Once an employee establishes these patterns of behavior with his employer, the trust dissolves. When you no longer trust an employee, its time to let the employee go. Unable to Do the Job Due to Incompetence If an employee, after training, coaching, repeated practice, and a reasonable amount of time receiving feedback, demonstrates that they are not capable of performing the fundamental requirements of the position, its time to fire the employee. Of course, you can decide to try the employee out in a different position, change the requirements of the current job, or create a performance impro vement plan. However, bear in mind that the more time you commit to the employee, the more money itll cost for development and training. It may be more prudent to let a person go early on when you see the lack of ability. Remember that you hire for todays job and tomorrows vision. Unable to Work in the Culture An employee may demonstrate that they just dont fit the corporateculture. For example, the employee may not be a team player or work well with others. Of course, any employer wants diverse approaches, thoughts, experiences, and backgrounds to provide innovative and creative solutions. However, a fundamental set of shared values is the glue that binds employees together in productive teams and workgroups. A new employee should be able to demonstrate that they can fit into the existing culture quickly. For example, lets say a new developer at a software company claimed during their interviews that they were a team player and liked to work as part of a team. They may have eve n cited successful college team projects as an example. But when the employee comes on board, its evident that the employee doesnt work well with others, is combative, defensive, and uncooperative. As a result, it may be necessary to let the employee go. Showing Up Late or Missing Work Whether its showing up late for work or not finishing a project as predicted, you cannot depend on this kind of commitment-phobic employee. Of course, everyone misses the occasional deadline, but the best employees keep their boss informed about the challenges along the way and renegotiate due dates as needed. The employee who fails to keep commitments blindsides the boss, lets their teammates down, and is not available to deliver what coworkers expect, and need. A department or job is like a cog in a wheel. The other parts of the organization depend on the output of each employee to produce their work. Code of Conduct Violations Every employer has the right to expect employees to act ethicall y as defined in the company policy as well as the code of conduct. This includes such behaviors as accepting gifts from vendors when company policy forbids it, developing inappropriate relationships with customers, and not treating co-workers as equals with respect. Examples of unethical behavior include Any harassment or bullying of a coworkerAccepting gifts that exceed the gift policy guidelinesPromoting lavish spending by employees who are attending a conference or entertaining customersAccepting a bribe from a vendor or customer All of these behaviors can and should result in employment termination for the employee. Anything else is disrespectful of your other employees and will breed cynicism and ill will.