1. What to say when people ask why an employee was fired
I just fired someone. It was necessary, and I’ve got no regrets. But while this person was terrible in many ways, they did have a great relationship with some staff members they worked with. And those staff are asking us (no doubt influenced by personal contact from the fired employee) why we did it so “suddenly” (it wasn’t sudden), and how we could deprive them of someone so wonderful. Of course, our official stance is to say, “this is an HR matter.”
But wow, does that response not fly and people are pushing to know more. When, if ever, is it acceptable to give more information internally?
Green responds:
I’d say this: “I don’t want to get into the details of Jane’s situation–just like I wouldn’t share confidential information about your employment with others here–but I can tell you that when someone is let go, it’s never sudden or a surprise. It comes after multiple conversations with the person about what the issues are and chances to show improvement, even though people outside those conversations won’t always know that.”
