Reader disagrees with advice to fire employee . . . this time

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Dear Joan:

I’ve just read your recent article, “How Do I Manage an Employee Who Has Lied to Me?” – and I must say I disagree with your reaction.  The disciplined employee was 15 minutes late the day after the meeting advising him he’s basically on thin ice, due to dropping his child off at daycare on a snowy day.  The manager wanted to terminate the employee but was overruled by her VP, and your view was the VP was “overly generous” and put the manager in a “tough spot.”

I agree with the action of the VP and here’s why.  Of course, I’m not aware of the facts of the case i.e. whether or not the employee is a minority, etc. But if he were terminated based on being 15 minutes late on a snowy day after dropping off his child at daycare, and decided to sue the employer for wrongful termination, there is no question the courts would be solidly on his side.  Their view would be that the company was being unduly harsh and would side with the employee.

The VP was being more cautious as a risk manager, because with the record of this employee there is no doubt he would hand them something much more solid than a tardy.  I whole-heartedly agree that it is very telling that the employee appeared to make no attempt to get to work earlier – but again, we don’t know if he had car trouble, a sick wife, etc.  It appears to be pretty obvious that he isn’t very interested in staying with the company and will mess up again.

But I would also question why the manager waited until the employee’s six month review to be having the work performance conversation with him.  This is something that should have been addressed much earlier.

Again, I don’t have all the facts and there may be other issues.  I also have no idea whether or not you’ll even receive this e-mail, but I felt the need to comment.

Answer:

You have a valid point. The tardiness on a snow day may not be the best work rule violation to use to fire him. But someone who lies and tells his boss just short of his six-month review that the project is “complete”, “went well”, “was easy” and “working perfectly”—when just the opposite is true—deserved to be fired. He had hoped he wouldn’t get found out and thought he could finish it before he left for vacation. But when he left on vacation, before finishing the project, the customer called and he was “outed”.

When confronted, he admitted he was “embarrassed” to admit the truth. Perhaps the biggest mistake that this leader made was to give him another chance.

And maybe I’m missing something but what difference would it make if he was a minority? The standards shouldn’t be different. The prejudice of lower expectations suggests that a minority isn’t able to meet the standards of everyone else.

The bottom line is this guy should be on a very short leash and next time she shouldn’t give any more second chances.

Confronting poor performance, or difficult behaviors, is difficult.  Joan Lloyd’s How to Coach & Give Feedback learning system is a step-by-step approach to giving feedback to your employees, your coworkers, or even your boss.  Actually reduces defensiveness and encourages open communication.  Now available in CD!