MANAGE & LEAD
HOW DO YOU WRAP YOUR MIND AROUND DOING WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE ? First , you should acknowledge that this is not about the person ; it ’ s about performance and their unwillingness or inability to change . If you have given them every opportunity to succeed and yet it has not worked , then it ’ s about them , not you . Yes , parting ways will be difficult for both parties , but it has become unavoidable . We have found that in some cases , once the employee has been “ liberated ,” they go on to achieve great things in other walks of life . Remember , they ’ re not happy either , but it ’ s always difficult to leave a sure thing and venture out into the unknown .
Second , you should allow them to leave with their dignity intact . It would be best to have an open , honest , and unemotional discussion and explain why you have reached this decision . Then allow that person to announce their resignation or retirement , as long as they understand you will not change your mind and will be forced to terminate them if they don ’ t take that option . Some people will be concerned about access to unemployment insurance based on a voluntary parting versus termination . Do the research and consult your EPLI attorney before taking action to know how to approach this situation . If you feel a generous severance package will help lessen the blow , prepare for that in advance . When their last day comes , celebrate their past contributions and let them walk out the door with their head held high – and you can do the same , knowing you ’ ve done the right thing in the right way .
Last , try to focus on the future and what this means to your agency moving forward . You ’ ll probably be surprised that you will get a little , unexpected boost in everyone else ’ s performance once you ’ ve dealt with this situation – it ’ s called “ addition by subtraction .” People may even thank you for taking decisive action that was perhaps long overdue . Don ’ t apologize and don ’ t look back . You did what you thought was right , and although that may not have conformed to other people ’ s timetable , you got the job done . No one needs to know about all the sleepless nights you spent wrestling with the decision . In the end , if you adhered to your organization ’ s values and handled the situation with diplomacy , empathy , and honesty , then keep moving forward to the next chapter .
We would be remiss if we did not address some of the unique challenges when dealing with the termination of an employee who works remotely . You probably weren ’ t thinking of that eventuality when you were required to send your employees home due to the pandemic . We were early adopters of telework and hired someone we thought was the perfect fit , even though she lived in Texas , and our firm was located on the West coast . At first , things were great ; then they went downhill . It was clear that while this person had skills and talent , working remotely was not among them . She wasn ’ t disciplined enough to work without any direct supervision . When it came time to have the “ fierce conversation ,” we froze – how in the world was this going to work ? You can ’ t just call the person into the office and fire them . We decided to meet her on her turf , letting her know several hours in advance that we were in town to terminate her employment . We asked that she spend the time gathering the company property she had been given , and we set a time to arrive at her home . When we arrived , we were met in the driveway by her husband . Suffice to say ; it was an uncomfortable situation . We needed to have planned this better , and so should you .
Letting go is always uncomfortable but waiting too long to take necessary action only exacerbates the problem . If you ask a hundred agency owners at the end of their career what was the one thing they would have done differently , nearly all will say they waited too long to deal with difficult personnel issues . If you ’ re struggling , you ’ re in good company .
Cheryl Koch is the CEO of the Agency Management Resource Group , a training and consulting firm located in Lincoln , California . AMRG provides consulting services for independent insurance agencies and their company partners throughout the United States , specializing in
operations , sales , and strategic planning .
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