5 Steps to Communicate to Your Team You’re Letting Someone Go

Photo FYI: Perhaps a Freudian slip – regardless, NOT the way to communicate to your team.

After you fire someone, you assume the worst is over. The good news – it probably is. However you still need to communicate to the rest of your department/team who remains. When you let someone go, it’s super important to immediately communicate to those who will be impacted. Do not wait. And if someone is not in that day from the team, or if they are out in the field, make sure to call them. Here’s a simple step by step way to communicate to your team:

1.We let X go today. (pause and make eye contact with each individual)
2.This may come as somewhat of a surprise. And I know that several of you are very close to X and that this is especially tough news for you. These are never easy decisions. And I can tell you this was not a rash decision, but rather one that was thoughtfully considered over a period of time.
3.As you know, I can’t give specifics as to why. All I can tell you is that it truly was no longer a good fit. (*Excellent if you can add what it wasn’t about – example – “I can also tell you it wasn’t his/her performance or competency that led to this decision” or “I can also tell you it wasn’t a financial decision.”)
4.(Explain what’s next) Some of you may be wondering what that means for the team – what that means is XYZ. Example – who’s covering X’s shifts/projects/customers as well as timeliness/intent of hiring another person
5.Again, while I know this doesn’t feel good, I will look to you all to pull together as a team during this time of transition. And as always, I’m here to help.

Photo Credit: http://media-cache-ec6.pinterest.com/upload/25966135322214303_1QMGYgZ5_f.jpg