Know 5 Mistakes to Avoid If You Need to Fire Employees Remotely

How you dismiss employees is important to your company’s reputation.

Think of the CEO of Better.com, who just laid off nearly 900 employees via a short call via Zoom. He is facing heavy criticism.

No one will ever respond positively to the knowledge that they have been fired, whether because of financial problems or their own performance. Therefore, it is up to the person who breaks the bad news to take care of how he/she treats the employees who are being dismissed.

The best practice is to always share the bad news in person. If that’s not possible and you must do it by videoconference or phone call, you can still give it a human touch.

Here are some mistakes to avoid if you have to fire people remotely (spoiler alert: try to avoid a Zoom to a large group or, in this case, an impersonal email).

1. Catch employees off guard

Home is usually a person’s safe zone. Therefore, surprising employees while they are in the kitchen or around their children or spouse is more invasive than in an office.

That’s why it’s best practice to give employees in affected departments—all team members, not just the fired—a day or two in advance for you to organize short, one-on-one virtual meetings to discuss upcoming changes, and suggest that they attend the meeting in a quiet place.

Not all employees will suspect an impending layoff, but they will likely anticipate some sort of serious news.

“You are setting expectations so that the employee is not taken by surprise,” said Raymond Lee, CEO of CareerMinds, a virtual outplacement company.

However, if you fire just one person for performance-related reasons, Lee doesn’t recommend giving any advanced signs of change.

“If there is a performance issue, there must have been several conversations up to that point. So all you need to do is send an invite to the update meeting,” Lee said.

2. Forgetting to practice with the technology that will be used at the time of dismissal

In addition to rehearsing what you’re going to say when you fire someone, make sure you’ve mastered the way you say it.

That means working on a short, clear message, and practicing it with a hiring manager in the video conferencing tool or conference calling system you plan to use.

Also make sure you know the security features of this technology so no one can break into your meeting, Lee said.

This means sending encrypted meeting notifications, and blocking long enough for the meeting to stretch out a bit. So no one can enter suddenly, he warned.

3. Not giving people privacy

Everyone will react a little differently to being fired. And no one should feel exposed to hearing the news.

So if you have to fire people en masse via video conferencing, turn off everyone’s camera so they can only see you but not others, said Brian Kropp, head of human resources research at the consulting firm Gartner.

“It’s an incredibly emotional experience. Some people will have no response and others will break down and cry. Letting it happen in front of other people is disrespectful.”

4. Closing employee access to the network too soon

Another technology concern: When layoffs are made in person, the IT department often disconnects the employee’s computer from the company’s network during a meeting with the employee.

“But if you’re firing someone online, you can’t cut the connection in half,” Kropp said. IT can’t remotely connect to wipe the person’s laptop in the middle of a conversation or when employees turn off Wi-Fi.

Therefore, find out in advance with Human Resources and IT what the logistics will be to close the employees’ access to the network.

You will also have to decide if and how you want to get your company’s equipment back. “Some companies send packages to their employees and ask them to send their IT equipment (eg laptops) to the office,” Kropp said.

Others tell them to keep it if it’s older or if the cost of collecting and storing the equipment isn’t worth it.

If the business is still remote and access to the office is limited, employees will also want to know how to retrieve their personal belongings. Most companies say an administrative assistant will pack and ship them as soon as the building reopens, he said.

5. Not being honest and compassionate

The pandemic has made life more difficult for everyone. Now, it’s going to be even harder for the people you’re firing.

Be honest about the company’s status and business reasons for the layoff, while explaining the sacrifices senior leaders and others are making, Kropp said. “How companies manage the next five months will define their reputation as an employer over the next five years.”

It’s also critical to have a relocation provider, as well as a professional consultant or Employee Assistance Program advisor on standby when the meeting ends, Lee said.

With the employee’s permission, these advisers can call that person, give him a chance to vent, and then start talking about next steps, he adds. “They are trained to help people move forward.”

*(Translated text. Click here to read the original, in Spanish)