 |
MHA
Service Corporation Professional Search Services, Stephen O’Connor,
Senior Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . .January
2008 |
In
this issue:
Take
These Steps Before Firing
Make Dismissals a Learning Experience
Staff Matters: Just
Cause or Just Because
More Organizations Firing Via e-Mail
How to Avoid the Five Classic Firing Mistakes
Is
Your Risk Management, Patient Safety or Quality Seat Empty?
Professional Search Services: Management Recruiting for the Health
Care Community
|
Take
These Steps Before Firing
|
| If
you’re considering a termination, then you’ve no doubt
already issued one or more warnings that haven’t been heeded.
Now it’s time to be blunt. Write your problem worker a
letter clearly stating that failure to show immediate, dramatic
improvement
will result in termination. Be sure to follow these guidelines:
- Avoid
ambiguity. Do not promise further action “up
to and including termination.” Individuals who have
ignored previous warnings will assume this is more of the
same and that they have nothing more to fear than the vague “up
to” alternatives.
- Specify
standards. It doesn’t matter that you’ve
already been over this territory or that the expected performance
standards are delineated in the employee handbook or job
description. Clearly list the required performance standards.
- Explain
failings. After listing the standards, provide
a list of the ways in which the employee has failed to meet
the standards, offering specific examples. If the employee
has argued that poor performance was beyond his or her control — for
instance, that sales dropped because products were overpriced — be
sure to address those arguments and explain why they lack
merit.
- Request
improvement. Detail what the employee must
do to show improvement. If possible, offer specific examples
so there can be no doubt that the employee understands what’s
required.
- Offer
assistance. Reiterate any promises to offer
assistance such as coaching, additional training, or closer
supervision. (And be sure to document that you did provide
the promised assistance.)
- Seek
explanation. Request that the employee provide,
in writing, any reasonable, verifiable excuse for the performance
failures. A reasonable excuse would be a temporary illness
or family crisis that has interfered with the employee’s
ability to execute normal duties.
- Set
deadlines. The employee should be given a
deadline for responding to the letter and for demonstrating
improvement. You may also wish to set interim deadlines to
follow up on the employee’s progress.
Adapted
from “The Rocky Road to Dismissal,” by Howard Levitt,
in the Financial
Post (Toronto, Canada)
Back
to Top |
Make
Dismissals a Learning Experience |
|
No
manager enjoys firing employees. So to keep from having to repeat
the process, get into the habit of conducting a postmortem each
time you’re forced to let someone go. Ask these questions:
- Why
did this individual have to go?
- Could
this outcome have been predicted during the hiring process?
- Could
I have done anything differently to salvage this employee?
If
you don’t learn from your experiences, you’ll be doomed
to repeat them.
Adapted
from How
to Really Recruit, Motivate, & Lead Your Team: Managing
People, edited by Ruth G. Newman (Inc.)
Back
to Top |
Staff
Matters: Just
Cause or Just Because
|
by
Stephen O'Connor
Determining
the discipline or discharge of an employee is one of the most
important
and imperfect tasks a manager will probably ever have
to do.
It is tricky because there are so many questions to answer.
Who did what and when?
Who’s telling the truth and who’s
bending it? Who knew (or should have known)
about rule violations
and what was done with this knowledge?
What was the intent of
the employee and what were the circumstances?
 |
Some
of life’s day-to-day questions are perplexing enough, such
as, “Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?” One
of my favorite comedians, George Carlin, likes to muse about life’s
difficult dilemmas. He asks questions like when sign makers go
on strike, is there anything written on their signs? Or why don’t
sheep shrink when it rains? Or why do they report power outages
on TV? One of his best is, “I went to a bookstore and asked
the salesperson where the self-help section was. She said, “Well,
if I told you it would defeat the whole purpose, wouldn’t
it?”
There
are many questions that defy answers but when it comes to employee
discipline, there are seven questions you can answer to determine
the justice of an employee discipline or discharge. Thomas Baird,
attorney with the firm of White, Przyblyowicz, Schneider and Baird
in Okemos, has outlined the Seven Tests for Just Cause.
They are also the seven layers of defense for an employer in the
event of an action for wrongful discharge.
| 1 |
Have
you given notice on what constitutes misconduct and its
consequences? Is this notice written down,
is it required reading for the employees, and does it describe
what unacceptable behavior looks like and what the consequences
are? |
| 2 |
Are
the rules and orders reasonable? Would
your mother think they made sense? |
| 3 |
Have
you done a thorough investigation and provided due process? There
are at least two sides to every story. |
| 4 |
Has
the process been fair? Is this the way
you’d like to be treated? |
| 5 |
Is
the evidence adequate upon which you base a decision? Get
your information from several sources, not just one. |
| 6 |
Was
equal treatment provided? Were all the
employees involved treated the same? |
| 7 |
Was
the imposed penalty proportionate to the offense? Did
the penalty fit the crime? |
Answering
employee’s questions honestly and getting honest answers
to your questions, within these seven guidelines, will ensure fairness
and support employee accountability. It is much easier to ask these
questions of yourself, as you move through the discipline process,
than to answer them to a plaintiff attorney in a deposition or
a legal proceeding.
Questions
you’ll probably never hear in a courtroom but are ones I’ve
often wondered about are why do hair shampoo instructions say lather,
rinse, repeat? If you did this, would you ever be able to stop?
How do you know when it’s time to tune your bagpipes? My
personal favorite, however, is if a telemarketer and an IRS agent
were both drowning and you could only save one of them, would you
go to lunch or read the paper?
This
article originally appeared in Michigan
Health & Hospitals magazine and is being used with
permission.
Back
to Top
|
More
Organizations Firing Via e-Mail |
One
in 10 American workers say their employers have laid off or fired
staffers via e-mail, according to a Harris Interactive survey of
752 people.
But
using e-mail for layoffs “risks turning former employees
into disgruntled ones who can become walking negative advertisements
for your firm,” said Frank Kenna, president of survey sponsor
the Marlin Company.
What
else fills up the office-in-box? About a quarter of those polled
said they have received politically incorrect messages, 15 percent
have gotten angry missives, and 13 percent have fielded flirtatious
notes.
Source: Employee
Recruitment & Retention, December 2007
Back
to Top |
How
to Avoid the Five Classic Firing Mistakes |
| Firings
may cause employees to cry, become defensive or even turn violent.
Others may even distort what happens during your firing meeting
to justify a lawsuit against you.
To
protect yourself legally, have someone else with you during the
firing so no one can question what you say. Write a memo after
the meeting summarizing what happened and have the witness sign
it.
Here
are five other ways to defuse fired employees’ justifications
for a lawsuit down the line:
| 1 |
Keep
your cool. Avoid heightening an already
emotional situation. Don’t spring the news suddenly
or berate the employee in front of others. |
| 2 |
Avoid
surprises. Employees should never be completely
surprised by a termination. Give them regular feedback
on performance and suggest ways for them to improve. At
the very least, poor performance reviews prove to a court
that you had valid reasons for firing someone. |
| 3 |
Watch
what you say. On the day you fire someone,
he or she will remember whatever you say in the worst possible
light. While you should always avoid making discriminatory
statements, be especially cautious during a termination
meeting. |
| 4 |
Don’t
be too kind. You may feel compassion for
the person you must fire, but don’t express your
feelings in the wrong way. If the employee’s performance
is substandard, don’t offer compliments on any aspect
of his performance. Doing so might make you feel better,
but it will only give the employee cause to question and
challenge your reasons for terminating him. Your offhanded
compliments could turn up as evidence against you in a
wrongful-termination suit. |
| 5 |
Keep
quiet. Don’t discuss your reasons
for the termination with other employees. It’s enough
to say, “Jamie will not be working with us anymore.” Some
managers have spoken too freely about the reasons for a
departed employee’s termination, only to find themselves
in court defending themselves against a defamation-of-character
suit. |
Source: The
HR Specialist — National Institute of Business Management
Back
to Top |
Is
Your Risk Management, Patient Safety or Quality Seat Empty? |
 |
The
Risk Management and Patient Safety Institute and MHA Service
Corporation’s
Professional Search Services have teamed up together to provide
you the
support you
need to
fill your risk management, patient safety or quality management
vacancies. We offer temporary staffing; search services for a long-term,
permanent replacement; and mentoring and coaching once you
find the right person. |
|
|
|
|
Back
to Top |
Professional
Search Services: Management Recruiting for the Health Care Community |
Steve
O'Connor, SPHR,
Senior Director
|
Professional
Search Services
- Large national
candidate pool
- Internet recruiting
at www.mhaservicecorp.com
- Background checking
service
- Low contingency
fee
When you need
a healthcare management recruiter, call Steve O’Connor at
the Michigan Health and Hospital Association in Lansing, MI at (517)
663-5755. He’s the search consultant who produces this
monthly newsletter and has hundreds of management candidates
currently
registered with
his service.
Most
are open to
relocation. You are also invited to browse his web site for more
information on Professional Search Services at www.mhaservicecorp.com.
Available
positions may include:
CEO/CFO/COO/VP • Facilities
Management • Finance •
Food Service • Fund Development • Health Information
Management • Home
Health Care • Human Resources • Information Systems •
Managed Care • Management Engineering •
Marketing/Public Relations • Materials Management • Nursing
Administration • Physician
Practice Administrators •
Planning• Rehabilitation
Management • Social Work • Training
and Development • Utilization
Review
For more information
contact:
Stephen
O’Connor, SPHR, Senior Director
MHA Service Corporation
Professional Search Service
Corporate Office:
6215 West St. Joseph Hwy.
Lansing, MI 48917
(517) 663-5755
E-mail Address: soconnor@mha.org
Back
to Top
|
|
Professional
Search Services
|
Management
Recruiting for the Health Care Community |
Stephen
O’Connor, SPHR, Senior Director
6215 West St. Joseph Hwy. • Lansing, MI 48917
(517) 663-5755
E-mail: soconnor@mha.org
Full Service Background Screening
and Applicant Tracking
Sales Department
3009 Douglas Blvd., 3rd Floor
Roseville, CA 95661
(800) 943-2589
www.absolutehire.com
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