Surprised to be Fired?

I periodically see postings on social media from people who claim that they were fired from their jobs out of the blue and with no warning and for no reason (although in many states, work can apparently be terminated at the whim of the employer). One of the very first leadership lessons I learned decades ago was that NO ONE who gets fired should EVER really be surprised. One of the best bosses I ever had taught me that lesson.

Organizations that are worth their salt do things correctly. Leaders constantly meet one-to-one and coach those people who report to them. They hold themselves and those employees accountable for their performance and their behavior. When one of those people commits a serious offense, according to company policy or rules, that person receives a warning (if it is verbal, a notation about it is placed in the employee’s personnel file).

After a possible verbal warning, a first written warning is issued and is signed by the leader and, expectedly, by the employee. The written documentation process is repeated if the violation is repeated (this process occurs for each violation of company policy/rules that may occur). When the second violation is documented, a warning is issued that any further issues will result in termination of that employee’s position in the organization.

So, when this process takes place and the appropriate documentation occurs and is kept current AND the warning of potential employment termination is applied properly, there should be absolutely NO surprise when the employee commits a third violation and has his or her employment terminated (by the way, we don’t terminate employees…that would be tantamount to killing them…we terminate/end their employment).

Following this simple process can prevent unnecessary labor issues as it is generally recognized as an effective leadership tool to develop people who are difficult to develop and can help protect the employer if they are sued for wrongful termination issues. Document, document, and document.?

#lostjob #firedbysurprise #effectiveleadership #documentation #winningleadership #leadershiplesson