Laying someone off: It doesn\’t get easier

I decided to lay off one of my employees this morning. I came to my decision late yesterday and I thought about it all last night and this morning on the way into work. The task of letting someone go never seems to get easier. This morning’s meeting was especially hard because it wasn’t that I was having to let this person go because of poor performance or that this person was a liability. It was because I just didn’t see a fit and the position this person was filling isn’t needed right now.

The company operates in an intimate setting. It’s hard to find the right time to pull someone aside for a private conversation. In hindsight I should have walked in first thing this morning, kicked everyone else out, let the person go and then go about the day. Instead I came in and allowed myself to get distracted. During that time a couple of my staffers went on their break so the break room was unavailable. This extra time allowed my concious to continue to do a number on me.

Like ripping off a Band-aid or chewing off your own arm that’s been caught in a combine, I did what had to be done. It’s a hard thing to do, especially when it’s good for the company but not for the person losing his or her job. I chose the firm but compassionate route which ended the converation is one of those “And, well, that’s it. I appreciate what you’ve done for us here and wish you all the best.”

I keep thinking that one day I’ll have really bad hair and will be able to slap my palm on the board room table, point my index finger like a gun and say, “You’re fired!” I’ll have a blonde lady sitting next to me who may say something like, “That was the right decision.” And there will be an old guy sitting to my other side who may say something like, “There was really no other choice.”

Sometimes there really is no other choice but making that decision and doing the deed is never easy.