A Beautiful Firing

Introduction

The three worst pieces of news a person can hear are about the death of a loved one, loss of a job or divorce. So, when you are firing someone, you are delivering the second worst message, says Emory Mulling, Chairman, Mulling Companies, an outplacement, executive coaching and retained search firm. In every organization, human resource department faces the inevitably task that is to terminate an employee. Termination is essentially a kind of psychological disaster area no matter whom it touches in business (Kingsley 1984). During the termination process, this affects three levels of persons including the terminator, the terminatee and the co-workers. After the termination of employment issue, 'љЋuÐ*Ñœ(2001) points out that there are three questions to be asked: Is the company reputation affected? Do the fearfulness of being fired generate to the existing employees? Is the fired employed treated with respect? Human resource professional nowadays is finding ways handling these issues better.

The objective of this paper is to investigate how to fire an employee beautifully with the concern in different perspectives and be as a guide for the employer dealing with the issue of termination of employment contract. This paper begins with why it is necessary to have a beautiful firing. Following by that, it will be the four aspects to which employers are advised to pay attention when executing a firing. Finally, a brief conclusion and recommendation will be made.

Why beautiful firing

A companyЃfs reputation as an employer depends on its ability to manage a termination with the least amount of resentment by the individual being separated, together with the greatest amount of understanding by the employees who remain. It is the aspect of sensitivity in the handling of the termination itselfЃ|not the reasons for the terminationЃ|that shapes the company attitude. In effect, termination is a public relations problem from the beginning to the end, a problem that affects the organization internally as well as externally (Kingsley 1984). To fire an employee, an employer has to treat the employee with maximum dignity and respect. This is because studies by psychologists and labor-management specialists have shown that the level of emotional stress resulting from termination can be equated with the stress level resulting from an individualЃfs being told that he or she is dying of an incurable disease. If an employer does not treat the fired employees with respect, some employees may react physically to being terminated. There are many common cases of employees pulling out weapons at termination meetings or returning to work to revenge on their supervisors and coworkers. On the other hand, the fired employee probably sues the company for the unfair dismissal even though the termination is legally. The price for wrongful termination includes the potential for complicated and possibly public legal battles, untold administrative headaches and, if the employee wins, possible punitive damages (Danaher, 2000). To avoid the negative effect on the companyЃfs reputation and prevent the unwanted actions associated with the dismissal, it is essential to execute the termination of employment contract in an effective and efficient way.

Aspect of the fired employee

Employees being fired normally have the damage in terms of psyche and economy. However, the treatment employers implement to the fired employees is possibly a relief of that damage generated by the dismissal.

After the organization decides to fire the employee, the organization will inform the employee this issue. According to Papaj (2004), the best time to actually present the termination notice is earlier in the day and week. In the past, many employers would fire an individual on a Friday because it seemed like a logical time to separate at the end of the work week. Firing an employee at the end of the work week tends to have a greater negative impact on the individual, who is then more prone to unpredictable behavior. The same view from Falcone (2002) said that dismissal meetings that occur early in the day and early in the week, on the other hand, allow employees the opportunity to question what went wrong. They can discuss their perceptions of what led up to the termination and have their questions answered regarding unemployment insurance, reference checks, and company records. When the manager, employee, and possible a witness are present at the discharge meeting, the manager should proceed in a very direct and precise manner. The employee should be told they are being terminated as of today and indicate the reason for the termination. The manager should have made prior preparation in his or her mind for what will be said.

Providing compensation greater than what is owed the employee at the time of termination may be just that little extra touch that the fired employee needs to believe they were fairly released. In addition, they would presumably be less disgruntled and less likely to file a wrongful discharge lawsuit. Though allowing the severance pay which amount is greater than the normal rate can decrease the fired employeeЃfs dissatisfaction, it is not enough. Employers have to treat fired employees with respect. From Papaj (2004), there are some common mistakes made in this area that must be avoided including: not coaching employees on policy violations, not allowing the employee to respond to allegations, firing the individual near a significant holiday, not allowing terminated employees to retrieve their personal belongings, the manager discussing the termination with other employees not involved in the case and the manager making degrading comments to anyone about the fired or soon-to-be-fired employee.

Employees may save the embarrassment and troubles to the employee being fired if they agree to allow him or her to resign and the employee accepts. This act will benefit by the fact that their staff will not have to psychologically deal with the situation of someone being fired from within their ranks. Saving the face on both sides will provide a calmer and more civil remedy for separation of employment and avoid the possibility of wrongful termination altogether.

The employer may provide the job reference letter, which typically outline the jobs held along with the associated responsibilities performed on the job, to the fired employee for his or her further job seeking.

Outplacement is an exceptionally valuable tool for aiding employees who have been laid off and who are looking to find new work as quickly as possible (Falcone 2002). This can be regarded as a part of their severance arrangement. As such, outplacement serves as a management tool, both to facilitate the necessary organizational change and