Disciplining and Terminating Employees

One can't simply fire an employee without following certain procedures. Conducting a Disciplinary Interview is an important aspect of managing people at work. How do you conduct a disciplinary interview?

The number of steps you need to adopt can be grouped under three categories - there are number of steps you should adopt before the disciplinary interview (preparation/planning elements), a number of practices one should follow during the actual face-to-face encounter (conducting/implementation) and practices one should complete at the end of the disciplinary interview (documentation/review).

One may consider the following steps when you need to conduct a disciplinary interview:

- gather all the relevant data relating to the disciplinary interview.
- Review the personnel folder of the employee for past records.
- take note of employee's contribution
- Verify the facts, so that you will be able to defend your facts.
- Conduct the interview in a private room.
- Be prepared to face 'an angry employee'.
- Explainthe purpose of the meeting.
- Be specific about the issue/incident
- Do acknowledge employee's past achievements.
- Present the facts without sounding too harsh or unreasonable.
- Ask questions to bring out the facts
- Listen actively to ensure that employee do understand what is going on.
- Encourage employee to tell his/her side of the story.
- provide ample time to let the employee defend himself/herself.
- Accept valid reasons.
- Agree on the corrective action.
- Ensure common understanding
- Document your discussions

What about firing an employee? Cascio, in his book titled 'Managing Human Resources: Productivity, Quality of Work Life, Profits', citing reseraches carried out by others recoomend that the supervisor/manager follow the 'five rules for the termination interview'.

1. Present your decision in a clear and concise manner.

2. Don't argue or debate about the issue.

3. Treat the person with respect.

4. Practice empathy.

5. Discuss the next step designed to let the employee cope with the situation.


The following video clip from Businessweek should be useful to understand the topic.

Firing an Employee