What to Do When You’ve Outgrown an Employee * Incedo Group

What to Do When You’ve Outgrown an Employee

No one likes terminating employees.

Even if they have been a poor performer, even if you have talked to them dozens of times and issued a Performance Improvement Plan when you have to actually have the conversation it causes sleepless nights and high emotions for even the strongest leaders.

But when you have an employee who the organization has outgrown, that makes the task of terminating someone that much harder.

Here’s some of what I hear from employers in this situation:

– They’ve been with us for 20 years and used to do a great job. They shouldn’t be penalized for getting old.

– He/she/they started with us 25 years ago and helped us get to where we are. We can’t simply push them out.

– They are a few years from retirement and wouldn’t be able to get a job anywhere else.

– The company is doing well enough we can afford to simply pay them for the next few years till they are ready to retire.

– We should have terminated them years ago, now it’s too late.

The bottom line is the conversations are around taking care of long-tenured employees even if they aren’t producing enough or good quality work, or there is no other role they can perform.

I have faced this situation with many of my clients. Let’s start with what’s obvious. These leaders are good people. They genuinely care about the people that work for them and believe that people and profit are not mutually exclusive. There is something way beyond an obligation to these people, these leaders don’t simply see the person in front of them today, they remember the person they used to be, and for that they are grateful.

So the idea that you would decide your company has outgrown them often feels like it’s your fault, so why should they be penalized? If only you had trained them more, if only you had provided other positions or career opportunities, if only you hadn’t tolerated poor performance for the last five years….if only.

I’d like to have you consider another perspective.

It’s a reality of life that we outgrow people. What once was in any relationship may not be what it is now. Needs change, priorities change, life happens that cause us as individuals and companies to change and grow in different directions. It can be sad, but it doesn’t have to be painful.

I have a client that through automation has 30 positions that are being eliminated. Almost two-thirds of these are people with 20+ years at the company. For a company their size (3500 employees), they have a very family-focused culture, and the idea that 20 or more people will be terminated causes heart palpitations to the executives.

What I haven’t shared though is most of this division has had numerous opportunities for continuing education, learning different skills, and/or taking a different position within the company. They chose not to. Here’s the rub. The company culture (we don’t fire people, we take care of our long-term employees, we are family…) has clashed with business realities. And as I stated, many created the situation for themselves by being content with the status quo or assuming nothing would ever change.

These employees own responsibility for their current situation. I’m not suggesting everyone has the opportunity or skills to grow past their current position. However, those that can and chose not to cannot then blame the company and the leaders for the decisions they made that affected them, the employees.

Businesses need to grow, change, and develop if they want to stay competitive and thrive, not simply survive. That means those in leadership roles will at times need to make unpleasant and unpopular decisions. At times those decisions include having to let go of a long-tenured employee.

A couple of things to consider when you are vacillating about how to handle a situation where the company has outgrown an employee.

1. Accept that it happens. Relationships come to an end.

2. While you are thinking about this one person (or a team/division), consider others around them. How will keeping them impact the morale of others? Will others have to pick up the slack for work not getting done?

3. What’s the message you communicate to others? Are your millennial employees thinking how wonderful it is you take care of others? Or are they thinking you don’t realize the problem it’s causing or you are ignoring the problem?

Part of your job as a leader is to consider the big picture. The big picture includes how all the parts are connected and impacted by each other.

Am I sounding like an ogre, someone who puts profits ahead of people and people be damned? That isn’t an accurate representation of me at all. What I do believe in my heart is that keeping people on the team that we have outgrown isn’t helpful to them, or anyone else.

So what are your options? Once you have exhausted any other role or work possibilities it’s time to say goodbye. This is when how you say goodbye matters. Say goodbye with gratitude for all they have done and brought to your organization. What you offer them financially is what your conscience allows. Don’t apologize, don’t tell them “I wish I didn’t have to do this”….it just makes it all more difficult.

Remember needs, focus, desires, and opportunities change. And when that happens, people can get left behind. When you have to say goodbye, when they have been with you for years and years, do it with grace and gratitude. They will know the rest.