The one time I had to fire someone, I quickly learned why being a 'nice' boss is overrated
"You're fired" are two short words that can have a devastating impact. No one wants to hear that they've been terminated from a job.
That being said, it's not easy to be the bearer of bad news either (unless you're a total psychopath).
I can attest to that. I've had to fire someone. It wasn't a "real world" job. It was still a pretty terrible experience all around.
Serving as editor-in-chief of my college paper, I was lucky to work with a group of shockingly dedicated students (these guys destroyed their circadian rhythms working a thankless gig without compensation, an opportunity to receive extra college credit, or even a working coffee machine). Unfortunately, there was one outlier who happened to occupy a crucial position on the staff. She'd fallen into it because no one else applied for the post (recruitment isn't necessarily the strong suit of a small campus publication).
After months of missed deadlines and sluggish work, I decided to fire her after she resisted the idea of taking on some protegés to help out with the workload.
After discussing matters with senior staff, I lined up a replacement and changed all our account passwords.
Then, one production night, I called her up.
Yes, I know you're never, ever supposed to fire someone via phone. It's rude and tacky and whatnot, but this was college, not the real world. Plus, at that point, things had gotten so bad that I could barely get this person to even show up at the office. At that point, we couldn't afford to wait any longer, so I made the call to make a call.
The first time I rang her, it went to voicemail. I ended up walking outside (I pace when I'm on the phone and when I'm nervous, so naturally I was moving around a lot during this fiasco). I remember it was a very bright afternoon and there were cannons booming in the distance (I hadn't been transported back in time - this is Colonial Williamsburg we're talking about).
She picked up on the second try. I cut to the chase pretty quickly. I spouted out my prepared line about how she hadn't fulfilled her responsibilities and we had found a replacement. After a brutally awkward pause, she replied that she had done everything she signed on to do. I wasn't in the mood to have a debate, so I apologetically cut her off and hung up the phone.
Was it nice? No. Was it smooth? Absolutely not. Did it ultimately benefit the organization? Without a doubt.
Reflecting on that unpleasant but somewhat enlightening experience, I feel like I walked away with five big realizations: