Two Reasons To Dismiss An Employee

Robert F. Jordan, PE

1. If an employee ever lies to me, for any reason, under any circumstance, at any time, regardless of their present value to the organization, they will be terminated from my department or organization on the spot. The flip side of this is that if I am ever caught in a lie by a staff member or any senior manager then I will resign my position on the spot and leave the organization that same hour.

Explanation: My personal management style is one that empowers the staff person to do their job the best way they know how. My role is to make decisions, solve problems, prioritize the work, the carry out the will of the organization. Not being a micro-manager, and being intensely occupied with my own responsibilities, I have to rely on the present and best advise of my staff. If I cannot trust anyone due to their telling a lie and getting away with it, then I cannot make the best decisions for the organization. I have to depend on them to succeed in what I do. If someone needs the day off, then let me know you need the day off, but don't lie to me and tell me you're sick when you're not. Just tell me you need the day off and that's that. We're all adults and we're all working in a professional environment. Act like it.

2. If the vision I have for the organization or my department is clear, and I have someone on staff who cannot get me or the organization to its goals or vision (either by their attitude or their technical abilities) then they will be dismissed. I have a fiduciary responsibility to staff with the best persons I can find. Big goals and big vision requires big investment and big commitment. If someone is not performing, not only does that hurt the long-term growth of an organization, but it effects the short-term morale of those who are carrying out the vision and are working hard. Note too that you may be adding value and then over time, suddenly or gradually become obsolete and not a value-adder. This is a dangerous position to be in on my staff.

Explanation: The organization is not a charity, it is a commercial enterprise that only succeeds by adding value to its customers. No value, no customers, and no organization. This is a dynamic economy we live in, and the expectations are high. So high, that an organization can be crippled by persons who don't add value, don't accomplish their tasks, and don't contribute to the success and prosperity of the organization. If those are the types of people in low level positions in a company that's a shame, when it's at the executive level in a company that is a disaster - and it's only a matter of time before the organization is crippled beyond repair.

Results of this Philosophy: In my 10 years of management I have never hired or taken on a staff wherein my two reasons for dismissal were not made abundantly clear, both during the hiring process and from time to time after the hiring. As a manager I have never dismissed any employee for lying. Ever. My staff tells the truth. A little more than half a dozen times I've dismissed an employee for the second reason. It is never a pleasant experience. Most of my dismissals came when I was new to the department; some persons had been problematic before I ever came and the previous management did nothing about it (an all to common occurrence in my experience) - they were problematic either through their own inadequacies, or due to the inadequacies of the management that was in place before I arrived. In either case, if the damage was irreversible then I had to make a dismissal decision. Only a misadjusted manager enjoys dismissing an employee. I'd rather chew glass than perform this least-desirable aspect of a manager's responsibility. But a leader does what he has to do. He can cry when he goes home (I have experience with this too) but he has to do what he has to do on the job if he wants to call himself a manager.