Who Should Deal With Firing Employees - HR Or Manager?

Minimizing the damage caused to business and employee/s

Firing employees can be rather awkward and difficult to do. In one aspect, a manager would be monitoring and managing an employee in their day-to-day role and on the other side, you have the HR department who diligently work behind the scenes to make sure that the business runs efficiently. Would that also involve the process of firing the employees too? Here we look at the role of HR staff and who should be responsible for firing employees.

 

The role of the HR department when it comes to firing an employee can vary as it tends to be determined by the company and their culture. If HR departments are seen in line with executives and directors of the company, they will most likely be involved with discussions in the boardroom when it comes to firing employees. There’s likely to be a structure and process and in place that would have been moulded with input from both the HR department and hierarchy within the company.

One of the key roles that HR individuals in an organization can do when dealing with firing employees is helping managers have clear conversations with employees regarding performance. Many managers can find these conversations uncomfortable, resulting in a lack of clarification. If a manager can be helped with defining goals and expectations the conversation about firing is less likely in the future, with less of a shock for the employee to deal with. If there’s a shock, that’s when lawsuits from dispute resolution lawyers occur. 

When the decision’s been made to fire an employee, HR employees can be there to help managers on what to say and the language to use. If needed, they can be present during the meeting to make sure that the conversation flows in the correct manner so it doesn’t escalate. The best time to fire an employee is right away, rather than waiting and leaving less time for the employee to find another job. In order for the conversation to go correctly, managers should manage the conversation in the following way:
 

 
HR will be involved with answering any further questions and the paperwork side of matters so that it can be filed away securely.

In some cases, some preparation may be required before firing an employee. After all, it's a delicate situation that should be handled with care. If it’s apparent that the employee is likely to get emotional about the termination, it would be ideal to schedule a meeting out of site or away from fellow colleagues. Another situation could be that the employee could react in an aggressive way, which would require alerting security staff or senior management members.

Although the employee is being fired, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a bad person. It can be crushing for an employee to hear they don’t have a job anymore so the role of the HR department is to ensure that employees dignity is maintained throughout the process. The idea is for all parties involved to remain professional and respectful and prevent a sense of fear from other employees in the business.
 
Ultimately, when it comes to firing employees the HR department should be used a support mechanism for managers. They can help to guide the conversation, make sure the process is conducted professionally and minimize any damage that could be caused to the business or the employee.