In 2003, I learned a valuable lesson about firing people. Our company was growing and it was time for us to hire a full time office manager. After placing ads, interviewing, and searching for about a month, we found what seemed to be a wonderful “Christian” lady to work for us. Patty (not her real name) was a dedicated mother with a southern draw from the foothills of Tennessee who had been searching for an office job for months. I was the answer to her prayers she told me as we hired her and I felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
Her resume was perfect and she told me that she had no problem with the software which she listed on her resume. I felt like I had hit the jackpot when I hired her and waited with anticipation for the day I could hand over a bunch of tasks to her. Freedom was coming to my schedule and I was excited! Truth be told, I had no idea all the tasks that I would give her, I just knew that I would dump as much as I could on her so I could have some time off. It didn’t take me long to realize what a BIG mistake I’d made.
When she started, I was so busy that I really couldn’t give her proper training. So, I found some menial tasks for her to do. Licking stamps, cleaning the office, and making a few calls. She seemed like she would work out fine when I gave her these easy stuff, but I realized she had a lot of time to just sit there and be bored. I decided that I would clear my schedule so I could spend some time training her on the items that I wanted her to do…keep in mind that by this time she had been working for us for a month.
As we sat in my office, I began showing her a few things in Microsoft Excel and then in Microsoft Word. We’re not talking advanced stuff here… basically adding people to file and creating letters, sending emails, ETC. I sent her on her way and fully expected that I’d see some progress and my stress level would go down because she’d be handling some of those daily tasks. When I checked back in a week later, I found disaster. Nothing was completed correctly and worse than that, I would need to go back and fix everything. I came to quickly realize that PATTY didn’t know much about computers or how to use the Microsoft programs listed on her resume. I actually found out that her entire resume was a lie and she didn’t know how to do anything on that list.
When I asked about her skill set, I heard the sad story of how she had been training to learn the software, but she didn’t have it figured out just yet. ”Matt, I really need this job”. She cried about how her husband had left her and how she needed to provide for her children. She poured it on about what a great boss I was and how she loved working in our little office. As a young 26 year old entrepreneur, I craved the self esteem and encouragement that she had given me and I told her that we’d work with her to help her. After all, she could be my mother, and how could I just push this lady on the street. She told me she would study and learn the software and how to use a computer.
The story doesn’t get any better, as over the course of the next three months she actually did worse. Everything I gave her to do or learn, I had to go and fix myself. I was now a full time teacher for her and also trying to keep up with my work. My other staff were complaining too because Ms. Patty couldn’t do anything right for them either. Here was Patty, who claimed to be an office professional and she didn’t know how to fax, copy, answer phones, or use the computer. Even customer’s complained about her and how she answered the phone and sent them to the wrong extension. By now, I had four months invested in her and things were worse than ever. I felt like the other staffers in my office were looking at me every time she screwed up (daily) and saying to me with their eyes, “Matt, just fire her, she’s dumb as a door nob”. I lost credibility every day I kept her and if I couldn’t fire her, obviously I’d never fire one of them, because they were Albert Einstein’s next to Ms. Patty.
Indeed, while a pretty lady with a polite demeanor, she had no training on computers, typing, phone answering, software or customer service. She was in her mid fifties and it was basically like I had hired a five year old to start working for me. But, how could I do this to her??! She needed the job and hadn’t “GOD” brought her to me? I ended up letting her stay three more painful and tormenting months and tried to get her to do other things such making sales calls and trying to drum up new business for us. That didn’t go so good either! She ended up making us just look worse and was slow at molasses just making the sales calls.
Eventually, I fired her. Enough was enough and I manned up and did it. To my surprise, she was upset and felt it was undeserving. After all I’ve done for you Ms. Patty? Undeserving? Lady, I’ve paid you for seven months and you’ve made my life hell! You lied on your resume! You lied to my face! Get the !@#$ out of my office and never come back. – NO, I didn’t say those words. I just thought them every day while she was there.
Yes, I was a softy. I had never fired anyone before let alone a single mother with children still at home. Many new young entrepreneurs and pastors are in the same boat. They have people on their team who are incompetent and they simply can’t fire them. Today I want to give you a few pointers for dealing with incompetent people and hopefully save you the pain I faced back then.
1. Never Hire Them – OK, so that isn’t really a tip on firing them… but the key is to fire them before you hire them. As we learned from our mistakes, eventually we made every applicant take a few simple tests. It was mostly the basic stuff like typing and basic computer stuff. It bared the nakedness of our potential hires and we fired a lot of the front runners with pretty resume’s because they couldn’t pass the simple test and follow instructions.
2. Probation Period and Job Description - Another preventative measure is to give them a probation period and a job description. We gave each new hire, about 90 days where they would have to learn the job. They signed their job description and we gave them a detailed list of all the tasks that need to be completed on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Because of the new clarity on the job description and probation, it allowed me to be unattached emotionally to the staff members. I knew if we hired smart by testing them and also gave them a detailed instructions about their job duties, if they didn’t measure up, they would know it and it would be easier to fire them.
The problem I made with Patty was that I didn’t test her, I didn’t give her instructions, and I didn’t give her a deadline to prove herself. There were no policies in place! While I wanted to let her go, I felt like I was just being mean or expecting to much. The truth was, she had no idea if she was doing good or messing things up because there was no accountability. She was incompetent, a liar, and not the sharpest tool in the shed, but as a person she deserved to know how she was measuring up to my expectations. If I had given her a job description and also a detailed list of things to do, then she would have know it ahead of time. Patty wasn’t the problem, it was the dumb 26 year old boss who didn’t know how to deal with employees and expectations.
If you’re in the boat where you have people on your team and they have to be fired, the best thing to do is to begin to write job descriptions. Give it to them and tell them this is what the person doing this job needs to be capable of. If they are in sales, are their certain numbers they have to hit? If it is an office person, is there certain software they need to learn? When people’s jobs are on the line, you’ll be surprised at what they can do! You simply need to make your expectations clear and known to them.
If they can’t make the cut for that job, is there anything else they can do? If yes, then move them to that spot. If nothing else is open, then you’ve got to fire them. However, if you’ve been clear about your expectations, then chances are good that they know they are on thin ice. Don’t be a jerk like me! I fired poor Ms. Patty and she had no clue it was coming that day. Be a man, and go to them and tell them if they don’t meet the goals on a certain date, then they are going to be terminated! That is fair! That is just! You’ve given them a clear goal and a clear job description of what needs to happen by a certain date.
You’ll find most of the time that they will just quit. In the years I’ve been an entrepreneur, people like to know what is expected. They like to know if they are doing good and if they are measuring up. It is our duty as leaders, pastors, and entrepreneurs to treat people fairly, while building a solid business.
Quote: “If you don’t invest the time to do it correctly today, you will spend more time and money in repairing mistakes tomorrow.” — Don Paullin
Question: What tips can you give to other readers who have to fire someone? Post them below!
