The Workplace Coach

I heard this very early on in my HR career. I have no idea who to attribute it to but I’m going to use it here as the topic of this article. I’d love to be able to say that “a wise man once said Be quick to Fire, Slow to Hire” but honestly it could have been anyone with an ounce of smarts. That said, it occurred to me today, while I was out on the road putting some kilometers on my motorbike in the sunshine and fresh air, that most organisations tend to get this backwards.

Most employers create for themselves a policy and procedural framework that makes it a long and arduous process to fire someone. I do understand that this is primarily about trying to protect the organisation from any post-termination applications through the Fair Work Commission (FWC), or other courts, for unfair dismissal or general protections or similar. The end result is usually that managers will either ignore the problem because it’s too hard, too onerous, or too much effort to deal with, or they push it (and sometimes promote it) to some other work area where some other manager can deal with it.

Now I’m not suggesting that you should sack someone without grounds, or that you shouldn’t follow a documented process. The very first thing the FWC is going to look at is whether or not you followed your own organisational policies and procedures. The second thing they will be concerned about is whether the punishment fit the crime, in other words, was the sacking ‘harsh, unjust or unreasonable’.

What I am suggesting is that you might want to take a look at your policies and procedures, and make sure that they are simple, easy to follow and meet the necessary minimum requirements to ensure a procedurally fair process. In reviewing your policies, be sure that they explicitly include the necessary steps that allow you to move quickly and decisively to terminate someone’s employment when necessary. (Side note: I’d be happy to take a look at your policies and make some suggestions, for a small fee of course.)

There are few things that are as damaging to a manager’s confidence, the team’s morale and engagement, and the overall productivity and performance of the work unit, as a lengthy convoluted process which requires you to continue employing someone in the workplace who has misbehaved and clearly deserves to be sacked. At the very least, you should make use of the suspension clause in your policy (if you have one) and get this person out of the workplace pending the outcome of the process. Then run your process, or get someone in to do it for you, get it done quickly and cleanly, and if you end up needing to pull the trigger then just get it done.

A wise man did once tell me “If in doubt, boot them out and let them fight to get back in.” I can attribute this one to a guy who mentored me when I first started in the HR/People space so many years ago. Terry Stocker was a wonderful man, an old school ex-union guy, and a real pragmatist in the workplace. This advice may have sounded a little extreme to me at the time but after having been to the FWC a number of times of the years, representing different employers, and never having a finding against me, I’m happy to continue Terry’s legacy in this regard.

I had planned to talk about slow hiring as well but it seems that I got a little carried away with the fast firing. Stay tuned for Part 2 which will look at the slow hire, to replace the person that you just freed up to pursue other opportunities.

Naturally, if I can help in any way just let me know. Book yourself a free Introductory video chat or phone call using this link https://calendly.com/theworkplacecoach/introductory-call