Firing People with Empathy: Aftermath, Learning and Support (Part 4)

Wrap up terminations with grace, reflection, and support.

• Part One

• Part Two

• Part Three

• Part Four > 📌 You are here.

Explore the final installment of our series on firing with empathy, covering post-termination steps, self-reflection, and supporting terminated employees. Learn how to wrap up the process gracefully and build lasting relationships with your team.

First, here’s a quick summary of the blog posts in this series that featured key tips, tricks and takeaways from David Hogan at Throne Consulting.

In Part One, we cover the importance of empathy and cultivating it through conversations. 

Part Two discusses the different sections of a PIP, and why they are important. It also provides tips for managers on how to deliver a PIP to an employee, and how to support them throughout the process. In case that wasn’t enough, we also include a helpful PIP handout. 

And finally, in Part Three, we provide a step-by-step guide on how to terminate an employee with empathy and professionalism when a PIP has not yielded the desired results. There’s a handy termination guide included in this post! 

As we conclude this discussion on firing with empathy, I wanted to provide some closing thoughts:

Team Meeting

Schedule a team meeting ASAP after a termination is completed. This is a 3 minute meeting to quell rumors, gossip, etc. It’s important that everyone knows that a process was followed and that terminations don’t come out of left field. Keep it upbeat and private, focusing on you as a leader wanting to make this team and company successful. Don’t share confidential information. 

Offer the team 1:1 time with you or if they would like to, they can always reach out to HR for a 1:1 conversation for any reason. Don’t dwell on this. Notify the team and get everyone back to work.

Self Reflection

Own the failure. Acknowledge that as a leader you clearly messed up somewhere. 

Hiring managers involved in interviewing, onboarding, training, and managing the employee that didn’t work out should come together for a postmortem. This isn’t a meeting to point figures but to truly brainstorm and discuss what was missed so as not to not repeat mistakes.  

The cost of mis-hiring in sales conservatively is in the 6-figures per employee. Mistakes happen in every organization. By taking one hour to reflect with other leaders you're doing more than most companies which simply move on to the next. Assign real action items to members of this group to help mitigate the chances of problems going forward for your team and company. 

Offer Support

People remember how they’re treated. The terminated employee might be frustrated in the moment but being visible and present will always be remembered. Whether it’s walking them to their car or reviewing their new resume, find the balance that lets them know you’re still around if they need you. 

Build long term relationships with great people.

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