It’s never easy to have to terminate a relationship with an employee who's not producing or who is not a fit with your organization. Yet, I believe that how you terminate poor producers has a huge impact on your ability to recruit top talent as you move forward with your sales organization.
Why is this? Because the people who stick with your organization see how you treat people. In fact, how you treat people becomes the foundation for your reputation as an employer, as a manager, and as a leader. If you are in the process of considering letting go an employee, particularly one who's been there a long time or who has been respected, making that termination decision may very well be the right decision, but how you proceed to the actual point of termination will largely define how you are perceived by the employees who stay, as well as potential employees.
Before you ever terminate an employee, its very important that you implement a corrective action plan, that the plan has quantifiable goals and improvement objectives, and that it is discussed in detail and agreed to with the person that you are considering terminating. It's very important that you also outline the consequences of not achieving those goals for the individual, and that they are clearly understood. By doing this, at the time the person is finally terminated, there is no mistake or question about what your intent was in calling for them to change their performance or to increase their results. If you develop and execute a corrective action program, by the time the person is terminated, they won't be surprised and they won't have any complaints against you as an employer. You will have given them a fair chance to meet your company's expectations to achieve the required sales and marketing results and to turn around their job performance.
When you actually go through the termination process, it's very important that all emotions be kept aside. This includes avoiding judgments or accusatory remarks regarding the employee's particular lack of effort or poor behavior, but rather, really focusing on the lack of results as it relates to the reason for your termination decision. If you can keep a level of respect and decorum in the termination process, you will find that it will have a major impact on your ability to continue to motivate the team that stays with you, and build upon it by attracting top talent. People look for managers, leaders, and employers who are willing to take the high road when it comes to terminations. Your company's reputation as an employer is enhanced by terminating people with dignity.
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