Managers and HR professionals are often placed in the position of having to terminate employees for a variety of reasons and mishandling these conversations can result in significant legal risks and damage to an organisation’s reputation.
A new survey from Preply, a language tutor platform, has asked those on both sides of the table – managers and employees – what they could do better and what would help most during these difficult conversations.
It revealed that 92% of Americans believe managers would benefit from more language training on how to terminate someone and employees and managers think providing better explanations for terminations could help improve the process.
If the reason for firing relates to performance, the employee can use that information to improve in their next job position,” the Preply report read.
Employees also think that greater empathy and accountability would improve the termination process.
“When a manager takes the time to empathise with the major life changes that happen with job loss, it helps them to handle the process with kindness and understanding,” the report read.
Managers believe that having face-to-face conversations and avoiding comparisons to fellow employees would help.
“Holding a face-to-face meeting is a more respectful way to handle such a delicate situation,” the report read. “However, if an employee works remotely, a manager can keep the camera on to make the interaction a little more personal.”
Mishandled termination processes
The findings come as 55% of managers who have terminated someone in the past admit that they have not received training on how to navigate the process.
As a result, one in six managers said they regretted the language they used when terminating someone. Some 65% of Americans who have been fired also believe their manager handled the situation poorly.
These results indicate that clear and concise communication is crucial in the process of letting employees go, according to the report.
“Empathy, clarity, compassion, and honesty are the four most pertinent qualities the full-time American workers in our survey wished to see from managers in charge of terminating employees,” the report read.