Difficult Staff Conversations

My boyfriend in another agency has to let someone in his team go because they are not cutting it in their probation. Any tips for him?

I was thinking about making agency people redundant when I saw Up in the Air recently. George Clooney is a hired hand who travels the States, gaining a ridiculous number of airmiles and delivers the bad news to corporate employees.

In a way, being emotionally detached from the employees makes it easier but I think because of the detachment you would be the focus of the anger of the alienated staff too – I would expect a lot of car damage in that job. I am also reminded of a friend of a friend who was head of HR at the European HQ of a Silicon Valley company. He and his North American equivalent had to make a number of wide-ranging redundancies. My friend’s friend was luckier than his Californian colleague – one US employee demanded an appeal meeting with the head of HR after being told he was being made redundant and took a gun out and killed two people.

I mention these “upbeat” stories not to scare your boyfriend but to show we cannot forget that we are dealing with people’s lives, aspirations and livelihoods here. Also you cannot predict how people will react – maybe not with a gun but when I have been involved in such conversations, I am aware that people shut down and not always hear all that is said – it is a shock response. Therefore your boyfriend needs to display extreme sensitivity and phrase things in a very clear way.

The first questions that come flooding into one’s mind when one hears such news are “Why – what could I have done differently?” “How am I going to pay the rent?” “ What am I going to tell my family and friends?” Consequently, you need to bear in mind that you have to give a plausible rationale to the employee so they can process it emotionally. When it is an agency financial decision, it is easier – a case of the old “It’s not you, it’s me.” In this situation, where it is poor performance, although no doubt you can wrap it up in a financial excuse, I think you are better to address the real performance problem. – this is fairer for the employee’s future career. This means talking about what’s not working but not to the extent that the poor junior is bereft of all self-confidence.

Your boyfriend will need to involve HR in the meeting and make sure what he is doing is right according to employment law and right for the individual situation. This is when you need to make sure everything is by the book. I remember at a previous agency that someone tried to let someone go in their probationary period and then afterwards the employee rocked up with a letter from the dippy HR assistant confirming the probationary period was over a month before. Talking to HR can help you prepare how you phrase things and if your boyfriend has never done this sort of thing before, he should rehearse it in advance. What am I saying? I think even if you are a seasoned pro, you should rehearse it. The employee deserves this and and you will feel better afterwards having done it in a way that is sensitive and fair to everyone. Oh and choose your location wisely – the goldfish bowl meeting room in the centre of the agency is probably not the best place.

So in summary I would suggest he:

1) Involve HR and prepare for the meeting extensively

2) Be clear and sensitive in what is said

3) Be prepared for irrational reactions

It’s going to be one of those years where performance and financials is going to be under scrutiny so no doubt there will a number of these conversations throughout agencyland. Best of luck! And Up in the Air is just worth watching for those air travel tips - think again who you queue up behind in the security checks!