{"id":583902,"date":"2015-12-17T09:28:54","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T14:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/?p=583902"},"modified":"2022-11-27T10:53:21","modified_gmt":"2022-11-27T15:53:21","slug":"fire-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/fire-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Joan: Is There a Smart Way to Fire Someone?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This month, Joan tackles questions from three different Executive Directors. One wants to know how to deal with insubordination. Another is looking for the smartest way to fire staff. The third is dealing with constant staff lateness.<\/em><\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

Before we get to this week’s questions, let me ask you one.<\/p>\n

Are you a leader? Or a manager?<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not the same at all. Very different skills and attributes.<\/p>\n

And yet, Executive Directors have to be both leader and manager. This can lead to conflict.<\/p>\n

Many EDs like to try to create a sense of \u201cfamily\u201d in their organizations. Dangerous. And even family members need to be held accountable\u2026<\/p>\n

So if you have an organization like that, what do you do when a staff member (or 5) isn\u2019t doing his job?<\/p>\n

Here are my responses to three different Executive Directors who have asked me this very question\u2026<\/p>\n

HANDLING AN INSUBORDINATE STAFF<\/h2>\n

Dear Joan:<\/em><\/p>\n

So I am a brand new ED at a small nonprofit. 5 full time staff. I\u2019m grateful that it is big enough to have at least five! It\u2019s my first ED job and I can\u2019t believe they hired me! It\u2019s a dream job for me.<\/em><\/p>\n

So I call my first staff meeting and I\u2019m super excited to bring the team together and only 2 people show up. The others don\u2019t even tell me they are not coming.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m furious and cannot believe how insubordinate they are. I\u2019m having a hard time hiding my frustration. When I asked them why they didn\u2019t show up (and I\u2019m sure I wasn\u2019t nice about it), they said they had important deadlines to meet.<\/em><\/p>\n

– Can You Put a Staff Member in \u201cTime Out?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Dear Time Out:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

First off, no \u201ctime outs\u201d for staff. Frankly, I could never get them to work with my own kids.<\/p>\n

OK, I\u2019m going to take a wild guess here. Either (a) there was no E.D. before you (b) there was a very long gap before your hire or (c) your predecessor was not big on accountability.<\/p>\n

Several important things to remember:<\/p>\n