IF YOU THINK FIRING AN EMPLOYEE IS EASY, THEN YOU DO IT TOO OFTEN.

Most builders don�t fire their employees frequently.  Therefore, the process can be difficult.  It is normal to feel apprehensive about firing an employee.  Most good managers feel awkward.  So, what do you do?  Business owners know when they have employees who aren�t team players.  �It�s usually not difficult to identify who should be fired.�  Occasionally, a builder will fire an employee improperly - and get themselves into trouble.  Pat Sargent, president of Sargent Consulting says they know of builders who gave their employees regular cost of living raises - and then told them they weren�t performing.  She�s also heard of builders who fired employees without any documentation to support their termination decisions.  �They didn�t have anything written in their files to protect them in a litigious environment.�

Start Right.  Many firing issues can be prevented by testing job candidates and hiring smart.  �Determine the necessary skill set for each position and then advertise for and hire someone with those skills,� Sargent says.  While you don�t want to hire someone who is curt, rude, or disruptive, you shouldn�t consider friendly, outgoing, or agreeable candidates until you�ve determined that they have the skills you need.  There�s no point in hiring a friendly estimator who can�t do take-offs.

Provide a basic orientation for all new hires that describes exactly what�s expected of them in their job function and as an employee of your company.  Consider an employee handbook to outline your policies.

�Job descriptions must be in place for employees to do a good job,� says Chris Thompson, president of On the Level.  �Disorganization, confusion, and lack of direction can lead to unhappy employees and poor performance.�

Spend time at the front end - when a new employee is hired - to coach, counsel, and direct his development and ensure that the employee has a good start.  In addition, counsel employees when they do something that contradicts company policy and/or their performance negatively deviates from procedures and standards specified in their job descriptions.

Be Fair.  Small builders often lack effective personnel management procedures.  �Many of them fly by the seat of their 

pants,� says Sargent.  �They don�t have consistent forms of orientation processes, and they don�t do exit interviews when employees leave.�  Exit interviews can help you identify hiring problems your company has and can highlight potential moral problems.

It�s very important to treat all employees the same way.  Consistency is crucial in human resource functions.  You cannot permit one employee to be consistently late or take paid time off.  Other employees always find out; then there is resentment and they start doing the same thing.  Also, it could be proven in a lawsuit that an employee received preferential treatment.

Document Document Document.  Once you�ve identified a problem and spoken to the employee about it, begin making notes about the problematic performance or behavior.  Document your meetings and counseling sessions with the employee.  Don�t shy away from letting the employee know that his job is on the line.  The employee deserves to know that if the problem is not corrected and the correction sustained, his employment will be terminated.  �If someone presses you about why you made the decision to fire someone, you can pull out your file of documented counseling sessions and demonstrate that there was cause to fire that employee,� says Remm.

Ask for Help.  If your company is too small to have a HR department or an employee who handles HR functions, consider outsourcing HR functions to a third party.  Business owners can hire HR consulting firms for a few hours a week or month.  �For what you pay your CPA, you can retain a HR consultant� says Remm.  Whether you perform HR functions in-house or outsource them, run all firing concerns past your lawyer first.  The lawyer can tell you whether or not you�ve got just cause to terminate an employee.

TO BE CONTINUED IN NEXT NEWSLETTER.................

Exerts taken from YOU�RE FIRED By Jill Tunick