After The Fire: Finding Out What Went Wrong

Any time a termination occurs it signals a problem within the organization, maintains Patrick Higgins, senior HR consultant with national Inspection & Consultants in Fort Myers, Fla.

The key to benefiting from a termination is to look back and find out where things went awry. "Once someone has been fired, you need to stop and look at the entire system to see what's broken," says Michael Holzschu, a principal with Holzschu, Jordan, Schiff & Associates, an HR consulting firm based in Farmington Hills, Mich. "Once you have identified the problem, you can begin to find ways to fix it."

While there's no single magic bullet, there is a series of things HR can do to uncover the answers.

Investigate

One option is to conduct exit interviews. One way to get to the bottom of a termination is to lay out the reasons it is necessary; doing so can help HR put the situation into focus. "A termination should be able to pass what I call the bulletin board test," says Higgins. "If you were to put your reasons for firing an employee up on a board, would everyone agree with your decision?"

After HR gathers all the information and lays out the details, it should help create an "after-action" report, which can be an effective way to evaluate where things went awry.

Holzschu says that "an after-action report enables HR to do the kind of tracking they need to do in order to solve the [underlying] problem." He suggests asking questions such as these:

Should we have been able to predict this person wasn't going to work out?
What department or building did this employee come from?
Have there been other problems in that area of the company?
Was there something we could have done to prevent the outcome?

Deliberations

According to experts, the most common reasons for terminations include the following:

Tardiness.
Conflict with other employees.
Misconduct.
Inability to perform the job.
A poor fit with the company.


Here are some common causes for terminations:

Weak managers. You may find that certain supervisors can't handle their management duties.

A flawed selection process. "If you're hiring warm bodies, you're hiring problems," warns Holzschu.

Wrong fit. To weed out persons who won't fit, HR needs to identify key company culture traits and ask questions based on those characteristics.


The Verdict

The bottom line is that if the selection process is thorough and terminations are investigated properly, HR will be able to expose weak links and ultimately strengthen the organization. Terminations, as unpleasant as they may be, are necessary parts of HR. Duplicating the experience doesn't have to be.


Source: -Adapted from Andrea Poe, HR Magazine, February 2000

When A Mismatch Occurs…

Many managers stumble and blunder during the hiring process. The most common mistakes they make include the following:

Hiring someone who reminds you of yourself. Ivy Leaguers who want to interview only graduates of Harvard and Yale are one example. Extroverts look for talkers. Technical people are naturally drawn to those who can speak their lingo. Other managers may be drawn to those who look like them, walk like them and manage like them.

Hiring someone because the chemistry seems right. The manager doing the hiring may tend to downplay what is written on the resume or ignore danger signs that arise during testing or interviewing. It's tempting to trust your instincts when you hire. After all, chemistry is important. But it shouldn't be the most important factor when you are evaluating a candidate.

Looking for a friend, rather than an employee. Hiring a friend (or someone you hope to make a friend) whose qualifications don't measure up will be a decision you'll come to regret.

Hiring in a rush. Hiring well, like marrying well, takes time. It is difficult, if not impossible, to shorten the number of days the process should take if you are going to do it right. If you really need someone to fill in on short notice, consider using an independent contractor or a temporary worker.

Hiring the person and then tailoring the job to fit him. What will you do with an employee who, while possessing valuable skills, may not have the skills you need at this time? Better to keep looking for someone who can do the job from Day 1.

Waiting to look for good people until a job opening occurs. The good manager will constantly be scouting for talent. She may not hire the person with the stellar credentials mentioned in the example above, but she will interview him and keep his resume on file in case the right opening does occur.

Source: -Adapted from National Institute of Business Management, "Great Hires Every Time"