By this time next week, you could be rid of your problem employee.
Includes a letter of termination template.

The act of terminating an employee can be stressful for a human resource person or a small business owner. If the employee has not changed after repeated warnings, both verbal and written, then it can final step for a particular employee’s reform.

You may be asking how terminating an employee can still be seen as part of that person’s job betterment. Simply put, a good business has its roots in the community, and by terminating an employee who does not show up on time or care to put forward enough energy for a job, and then you are doing the community a service. The terminated employee will likely be reflective (after a period of time) on why exactly they were let go. During that time, they will remember what it is you told them and hopefully make changes to correct their behavior.

Terminating an Employee without Distancing Yourself from the Staff

We have all seen the employee who has great social skills, who can make friends with most of the staff, and might even host parties outside of work for their coworkers. What if that very employee underperforms? Do you back away from terminating them, even though it might be the best thing for the work environment? Of course, there are tradeoffs when an employee like that does not perform up to standards. On the one hand, they offer the environment good morale boost, and might be valuable enough to keep on for that reason alone. But if they are constantly distracting and underperforming, and have not listened to several warnings then terminating that person might suit the business the best.

In the small business world, terminating an employee should take place face to face, preferably at the end of a business day, maybe even on late Friday afternoon. By telling the employee in the privacy of an office, at the end of the day, you take away the dramatic effect of others hearing the firing (never fire someone during an angry outburst) and bringing down the attitude of the workplace.

So before you take that final step in terminating an employee, be sure to gather you thoughts, review the files, and approach the situation in a straightforward and dignified way. The employee may react poorly, so you should prepare yourself mentally before going through with the termination. But if you go about terminating an employee from the right angle, then the process should go smooth and not cause any ill effects within the workplace.