Tackling terminations calmly

A manager faces a tough situation when he/she has to terminate an employee. This uncomfortable situation leads to bitterness and makes the person who is terminated feel rejected. Poor handling of the situation can lead to a sense of insecurity among your other employees too.

While dismissing an employee the manager should handle the situation tactfully by:

• Not getting emotional
• Deciding in advance about the location and time of the interview
• Giving a golden handshake to the dismissed employee
• Suggest the individual to a placement service, if possible

In most cases an employee reacts in a violent manner on hearing about his/her dismissal. Keep in mind that the person will calm down after asking certain questions and being told of the benefits.

A manager should convey the news of dismissal within the first five minutes and counsel him/her for the remaining 30 minutes.

The following tips will hopefully make the situation less unpleasant for both you and the employee who is being dismissed:

• Psychologists agree that spending hours discussing what is wrong with an individual does not help.
• Don't use platitudes or make promises you can't keep
• Get in touch with the personnel department before the dismissal
• Help the employee restructure his/her life
• Plan thoroughly what you are going to say, where you'll say it and when you're going to say it.

Punish Absenteeism

Absenteeism can cause major losses to the national exchequer. Employees stay away from work due to:

1. Illness
2. Other legitimate reasons
3. Their aversion to come to work

Dealing with absenteeism

 

Companies should formulate guidelines to overcome the problem of absenteeism by:

1. Coming up with a written policy indicating the disciplinary action to be taken if absenteeism becomes excessive.
2. Ensuring that the employees receive the policy and seeing to it that they follow its directives in their day-to-day functioning.
3. Forming an evaluating task force comprising of middle management, supervisory and other grades to review the effectiveness of the policy
4. Questioning the representing groups about their problems and perceptions of the existing policy.
5. Giving paid leaves to put a brake on fraudulent sick leaves.
6. Keeping a record of absences, studying him or her and discussing them with each employee.
7. Publicizing regularly the absence and attendance rates of the company as a whole. This serves the purpose of encouraging
   rather than degrading the employees.
8. Making regular attendance a part of the annual performance appraisal process on which pay rises and promotions are based.