“Managing Through Recession 101″ teaches that you use the downturn to stock up on great talent being offed by your competitors. That’s superb advice — if your company has the financial flexibility to capitalize.
But let’s face it, many managers don’t have this option. Instead, we will be given a gloomy forecast and a downsized headcount or salary target to meet, and some star performers will be shown the door as a result.
Telling a great employee they have to be let go brings its own unique sadness, says management consultant Marshall Goldsmith in a Harvard Business Publishing post, How to Terminate a Great Performer. “It’s one of the toughest challenges that any leader will face,” he says.
His advice includes be truthful (sometimes life isn’t fair), don’t sell out co-workers or management, and be prepared for anger. But I think his best tip is this: Help them as much as you can. Says Goldsmith:
You never know, that person you are terminating today may end up becoming your customer, partner or even boss. Times change. People remember the way they were treated when they were hurt. Aside from the good business logic, this just shows that you have class as a human being.
Have you had to let go a star employee? How did you handle the situation?
