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cashbox straight up coffee business How to say, "You're fired." It's not fun—but done right, it can be minimally painful. Written by Tracy Allen Giving an employee the pink slip can be a gut-wrenching experience. But when you have a poor performer on your hands, you can't afford to waste your time or money by keeping them around. To set the tone for the conversation, it is important that you act professionally and maintain your composure, even if you feel an employee has taken advantage of you. Be succinct and resolute, and treat the person with dignity. Alison Brod, CEO of Alison Brod Public Relations, tells CBS News that thanking the person for their contributions and saying something like, "I'm sorry this position wasn't a good fit for you, Have the employee sign something that shows he or she understands and agrees to the action required. If you' d " can soften the blow. If you can become good at firing people (as awful as that sounds), you will rarely experience backlash from angry former employees. And while empathy is good, don't sugarcoat or confuse the situation. You should treat the person with dignity. However, that doesn't mean you should gloss over the issues involved. Here are a few tips for a smooth exit: "Monday morning is best," says Dr. Carl Greenberg, President of Pragmatic HR. "You want to 1. Try not to make it a total surprise. Firing someone should be the last step in an overall review process. The poor performer should have been warned previously that he or she hasn't been meeting your standards. "The biggest mistake employers make is that they don't employees a chance to improve behavior, quickly transition the person from working for you to the process of looking for another job, which is usually done during the week." give " says John Zambito, president of Zambito Executive Search in Columbus, Ohio. As an employer, you should have been specific about what the employee needed to improve, and you ought to give measurable performance criteria which the employee can understand and know whether or not they've met, such as: • Increasing sales by five percent • Greeting customers warmly (not the easiest to mea- sure, but not impossible) • Being on time every day rather be informal, make sure another manager joins each meeting as a witness. Give the employee at least a few weeks to improve his or her performance. If the performance doesn't show a change in direction, the employee on notice shouldn't be shocked that you have to fire them, and the hard numbers you've collected and can share with the employee ("You didn't increase sales." "You were late six times.") will speak for themselves. Human behavior specialists tell us that tasks do not get completed for one of two reasons: can't or won't. Be sure that you as the employer have given the employee the tools to eliminate 'can't' as an option. 2. Never on a Friday. The old wisdom was that Friday was the best day to let someone go, so he or she could have the weekend to recover. Today's thinking is that a Friday firing leads to two days of withdrawal, depression, or worse. "Monday morning is best," says Dr. Carl Greenberg, President of Pragmatic HR. "You want to quickly transition the person from working for you to the process of looking for another job, which is usually done during the week." As for the time of day, midmorning is considered thoughtful. It allows the employee to head out to lunch and get support from friends. There's also the end of the day, so the person can leave quickly without causing undue gossip. 3. Do it in a private area. You should never fire someone in a public place. And while it might sound nice, taking a person out to lunch and firing them is also a bad idea. Meeting behind closed doors is best, so no one feels humiliated or publicly exposed. If you can do it on neutral territory, like in the training or cupping room, that's even better because you can both leave when it's over. 4. Keep it short and sweet. Don't drag out the meeting, and make it clear that there is no room for discussion on the matter. You can say something like, "We've talked about your performance, and it's not working out. Your job is terminated. " Keep the conversation strictly on performance. Remind the employee that these are the consequences for not meeting the expectations you've set, and it's time to go. If the employee refuses to accept what you're saying, keep emphasizing that the decision has been made and it is irreversible. 5. Lay out all of their options. After the conversation is over, you should brief the employee