1
00:00:04,500 --> 00:00:07,300
Welcome to the bringing the 
human Back To Human Resources, 

2
00:00:07,300 --> 00:00:10,600
podcast, the podcast, all about 
the delicate balance between 

3
00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:13,600
people and business. 
And quite literally reconnecting

4
00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,300
the to my name is Tracy Ruben, 
and I've spent nearly my entire 

5
00:00:17,300 --> 00:00:20,900
professional career in h.r., 
join me as I share stories 

6
00:00:20,900 --> 00:00:22,900
opinions and words of advice 
with you each week. 

7
00:00:27,100 --> 00:00:29,600
Hey everyone. 
Welcome back to the bringing the

8
00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,100
human Back To Human Resources 
podcast. 

9
00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:36,000
Thank you so much for being here
again for yet another week. 

10
00:00:36,100 --> 00:00:40,100
Last week, I spoke a little bit 
about terminations, especially 

11
00:00:40,100 --> 00:00:44,500
with how we approach them as 
people managers or HR Partners. 

12
00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,100
Anyway, I wanted to first start 
with the ground rules for 

13
00:00:48,100 --> 00:00:52,600
terminations one. 
Do your due diligence if you are

14
00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,900
a manager or if you're an HR 
partner, You do your due 

15
00:00:55,900 --> 00:00:58,800
diligence, if it's an 
investigation, make sure you 

16
00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:01,100
investigate fairly and 
investigate. 

17
00:01:01,100 --> 00:01:05,000
Anyone necessary don't 
investigate just everybody 

18
00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:09,600
because then you will lose 
credibility with the emphasis on

19
00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:14,900
confidentiality, but you should 
investigate or really when I say

20
00:01:14,900 --> 00:01:17,900
investigate in this context, 
it's kind of like, interviewing 

21
00:01:17,900 --> 00:01:23,200
or speaking with employees who 
are an integral or critical part

22
00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:28,100
of the investigation. 
To make sure that you have all 

23
00:01:28,100 --> 00:01:31,800
of your ducks in a row. 
Get all of your facts down. 

24
00:01:31,900 --> 00:01:35,200
Have all of your anticipated 
questions answered. 

25
00:01:35,500 --> 00:01:38,500
And obviously, as you this is 
going to sound terrible. 

26
00:01:38,500 --> 00:01:41,300
But as you do more of these or 
have more of these 

27
00:01:41,300 --> 00:01:46,200
conversations, you'll get used 
to it and you won't have to do 

28
00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,800
as much prep and you'll know the
answers are, for example. 

29
00:01:49,900 --> 00:01:53,500
But yes. 
Have all of your ducks in a row.

30
00:01:53,500 --> 00:01:56,000
Don't get caught. 
Not Not knowing what you're 

31
00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,700
talking about. 
That is like a recipe for 

32
00:01:58,700 --> 00:02:02,100
disaster now on the on a 
different note. 

33
00:02:02,500 --> 00:02:05,000
If you don't know the answer to 
something and you've already 

34
00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,300
done your prep, that's okay. 
Just acknowledge. 

35
00:02:07,300 --> 00:02:09,699
Hey I don't have the answer for 
you right now. 

36
00:02:09,699 --> 00:02:13,100
Let me get that for you and I'll
come back to you not knowing 

37
00:02:13,100 --> 00:02:18,700
everything is a fully normal and
appropriate characteristic, 

38
00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,300
like, we cannot possibly know 
every single thing. 

39
00:02:21,300 --> 00:02:24,600
So you should feel empowered and
confident enough. 

40
00:02:25,100 --> 00:02:28,100
You say actually, I don't know 
the answer to your question. 

41
00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,800
Let me come back to you. 
And finally think about the 

42
00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:37,600
human element, you're talking to
your terminating your speaking. 

43
00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:41,500
With a person, a human being a 
living breathing. 

44
00:02:41,900 --> 00:02:48,300
Emotional being don't go in 
there, fired up, ready to be a 

45
00:02:48,300 --> 00:02:51,200
jerk. 
Now, I will say, I have gotten 

46
00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,100
fired up in the middle of 
terminations, or I have been I'm

47
00:02:55,100 --> 00:02:58,400
fired up to have a termination 
because someone has earned their

48
00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,400
termination so much because of 
something that they did, that 

49
00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:06,800
was really bad that I'm like, 
oh, I am ready to go, but I 

50
00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,500
never lose sight of who I'm 
speaking with. 

51
00:03:09,500 --> 00:03:14,200
So all of those emotions and I 
don't want to call them like 

52
00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,500
moments of excitement because we
should never be excited to 

53
00:03:17,500 --> 00:03:19,400
terminate someone. 
But I'll be frank. 

54
00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:24,600
When you have an employee who is
problematic or who has done 

55
00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,000
something. 
That is vile and I've been there

56
00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,800
you are excited for them to 
leave and I think it's okay to 

57
00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,900
acknowledge that within a safe 
space and within, you know, 

58
00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:41,000
within reason but you know, 
don't don't make them aware 

59
00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,400
that, you're excited to have the
conversation or that you're 

60
00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,500
looking forward to not having 
this problem anymore. 

61
00:03:48,300 --> 00:03:50,500
I'll, I'll break that down. 
I don't want you to think. 

62
00:03:50,500 --> 00:03:53,800
I'm just like a jerk that thinks
that it's exciting to terminate 

63
00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,300
people at all. 
At all let alone people who have

64
00:03:56,300 --> 00:03:58,200
earned their terminations. 
That's not what I'm saying. 

65
00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,700
What I'm saying is that there 
are problematic people who we do

66
00:04:01,700 --> 00:04:05,200
look forward to moving through 
because they are that 

67
00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,300
problematic. 
So you have the ground rules, 

68
00:04:08,300 --> 00:04:10,900
you know what's at stake? 
What's next? 

69
00:04:11,500 --> 00:04:17,500
Well, for me as an HR person, I 
like to prep new managers or 

70
00:04:17,700 --> 00:04:21,399
people who are new in their role
so that they know exactly how to

71
00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:25,500
walk into that conversation. 
And fortunately I work for a 

72
00:04:25,508 --> 00:04:31,200
company where our core values 
are to be kind and humble, and 

73
00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:35,700
they're very familial. 
So I rarely, I don't know if 

74
00:04:35,700 --> 00:04:39,900
I've ever at least not in the 
last couple of years, had to say

75
00:04:39,900 --> 00:04:43,200
to someone, you need to approach
this from a kind place. 

76
00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:45,900
I don't think I've ever had to 
do that in my, my current 

77
00:04:45,900 --> 00:04:47,900
company. 
But in my past life, I 

78
00:04:47,900 --> 00:04:52,200
definitely did. 
And so if you're in a position 

79
00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:56,500
where you are working with or a 
partner too, Two people manager 

80
00:04:56,500 --> 00:05:00,500
who is maybe a little bit absent
of the emotional intelligence. 

81
00:05:00,500 --> 00:05:04,100
Let's say you should prep them 
on how to actually conduct that 

82
00:05:04,100 --> 00:05:08,100
conversation. 
If you are the people manager 

83
00:05:08,100 --> 00:05:10,500
and someone is prepping, you 
don't be offended, that's okay, 

84
00:05:10,500 --> 00:05:13,100
the prep is part of the 
development and part of the 

85
00:05:13,100 --> 00:05:15,800
learning moment. 
So take it and run with it. 

86
00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,900
And actually, I think everyone 
approaches things a little bit 

87
00:05:18,900 --> 00:05:22,200
differently and that's okay. 
But again, keep those ground 

88
00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:26,100
rules in mind, and always 
remember that we should lead 

89
00:05:26,100 --> 00:05:32,500
with kindness first and still, 
maintain our directness and 

90
00:05:32,500 --> 00:05:34,500
Clarity. 
Another thing, and I realized I 

91
00:05:34,508 --> 00:05:38,500
didn't say this before, You 
should, if you are the manager 

92
00:05:38,500 --> 00:05:40,900
in this scenario, you should 
always. 

93
00:05:40,900 --> 00:05:43,600
Always make sure that you are 
taking a partner before you 

94
00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,000
terminate. 
If you are in a smaller industry

95
00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:51,000
or in like a mom-and-pop kind of
business, you're probably not 

96
00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,300
going to have to take as many 
steps because you are the judge 

97
00:05:54,300 --> 00:05:56,900
and the jury. 
But if you have an HR function, 

98
00:05:56,900 --> 00:05:59,500
you absolutely need to make sure
that you partner first because 

99
00:05:59,500 --> 00:06:03,400
every termination opens up the 
company for legal risk. 

100
00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:06,100
It's just a fact and it's not to
say that. 

101
00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:07,800
When you terminate someone 
you're going to get sued, 

102
00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:11,200
absolutely not theirs. 
I would say that 9 out of 10 

103
00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:17,500
terminations are very, very cut 
and dry and would have no 

104
00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:22,700
grounds to stand on if there 
were any legal pursuance. 

105
00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,900
And it's not to say that every 
termination would lead to 

106
00:06:25,900 --> 00:06:29,600
someone saying, I'm going to see
the company, definitely not but 

107
00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,400
from a consistency fairness and 
legal standpoint, the 

108
00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:37,100
partnership is critical. 
So key Your HR partner is 

109
00:06:37,100 --> 00:06:39,300
closed. 
If there's only one HR person in

110
00:06:39,300 --> 00:06:41,600
your company, or maybe, there 
isn't an HR person in your 

111
00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,000
company at all, run it by 
someone who is a trusted 

112
00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:46,800
partner. 
So, let's say you don't have an 

113
00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,800
HR function in your business, 
you should then partner with 

114
00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:56,400
your supervisor or whomever is 
in a role that looks at the 

115
00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,800
organization on a global level. 
And I say that because the 

116
00:06:59,808 --> 00:07:03,100
consistency and terminations is 
really, really, really 

117
00:07:03,100 --> 00:07:05,000
important. 
The consistency and 

118
00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:09,600
accountability is We important. 
Because if you don't treat 

119
00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,200
person X, the same as you treat 
person. 

120
00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:16,900
Why you're then doubling down on
your legal risk. 

121
00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:21,000
Not only are you not being 
consistent in the way that you 

122
00:07:21,008 --> 00:07:25,000
hold those people accountable. 
But you're also not considering 

123
00:07:25,300 --> 00:07:27,100
how that could look 
discriminatory. 

124
00:07:27,100 --> 00:07:31,300
So, always make sure that you're
taking a partner and looking at 

125
00:07:31,300 --> 00:07:35,900
what is consistently done. 
So for example, Behavioral 

126
00:07:35,900 --> 00:07:40,600
issues, harassment retaliation, 
those things are pretty much 

127
00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:43,700
always an immediate termination 
and most companies, right? 

128
00:07:43,700 --> 00:07:47,700
Like they're all violations of 
policy in some way Behavior. 

129
00:07:47,700 --> 00:07:49,100
Maybe it's a little bit more 
gray. 

130
00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:53,400
So if we think about just 
violation of policy, harassment 

131
00:07:53,500 --> 00:07:58,600
retaliation, those things are 
cut and dry for the most part. 

132
00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:03,300
So, I want to share a story. 
It's a true story from when I 

133
00:08:03,300 --> 00:08:07,700
was at Target there. 
As a manager in my store who 

134
00:08:08,100 --> 00:08:12,700
took it upon themselves to 
terminate an employee because 

135
00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:16,500
that manager felt like the 
employee was not doing a good 

136
00:08:16,500 --> 00:08:19,900
job that manager did not first 
get approval from me. 

137
00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,500
The manager did not have any 
corrective actions on file for 

138
00:08:24,500 --> 00:08:28,000
the employee. 
And the manager basically did 

139
00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:33,500
not follow our policies and 
protocols for how we evaluate 

140
00:08:33,500 --> 00:08:37,600
someone's Readiness for Being 
managed out or terminated and 

141
00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:41,200
basically, in Target, you always
had to have a healthy amount of 

142
00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:45,100
corrective actions to show that 
you've really done the work to 

143
00:08:45,100 --> 00:08:47,700
manage, this employees 
performance to improve their 

144
00:08:47,700 --> 00:08:51,600
performance, but especially when
it comes down to Performance and

145
00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,800
productivity, those things are 
much more gray. 

146
00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,900
So you need documentation to 
really support the reason for 

147
00:08:57,900 --> 00:08:59,900
your termination of that 
employee. 

148
00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,800
So again, the person the manager
did not get the approval from 

149
00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,200
me. 
So, Found out that the person 

150
00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:10,300
was terminated I was like, whoa,
buddy, what's going on here? 

151
00:09:10,700 --> 00:09:13,900
Why are you terminating an 
employee and like why are you 

152
00:09:13,900 --> 00:09:16,800
not running this by me? 
Like this is not your role. 

153
00:09:17,100 --> 00:09:20,100
Your Role is to make sure that 
you are holding employees 

154
00:09:20,100 --> 00:09:22,200
consistently accountable. 
Yes. 

155
00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:27,000
Holding them accountable but 
fairly and consistently and the 

156
00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:28,300
manager was like, what do you 
mean? 

157
00:09:28,300 --> 00:09:31,200
I don't know. 
I'm running, I'm running the 

158
00:09:31,208 --> 00:09:33,500
show. 
Like this is my part of the 

159
00:09:33,508 --> 00:09:34,900
business and I was like, that's 
great. 

160
00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,200
Great. 
But every person in this 

161
00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:42,000
building is part of my business 
and we have to we've got to 

162
00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,400
solve this problem now. 
So we have someone who has been 

163
00:09:45,700 --> 00:09:47,500
wrongfully terminated at this 
point. 

164
00:09:47,500 --> 00:09:51,200
Like are you going to bear that 
burden because you didn't get 

165
00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:54,100
approval? 
So now all of that is on you 

166
00:09:54,100 --> 00:09:55,600
like is that really what you 
want? 

167
00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:59,800
And this manager was new and 
roll but really needed to kind 

168
00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:02,500
of be like smacked over the head
with this information and that's

169
00:10:02,500 --> 00:10:05,200
okay. 
I actually had a very very A 

170
00:10:05,208 --> 00:10:07,300
strong working relationship with
his manager. 

171
00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:12,000
And so being that direct and 
being like, whoa, what is going 

172
00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:16,100
on was totally appropriate for 
the working relationship that we

173
00:10:16,100 --> 00:10:21,200
had what ended up happening is. 
I had to partner with my HR 

174
00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:25,000
partner because this now was 
inconsistency that I needed to 

175
00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:29,800
flag and my recommendation was 
actually to reinstate that 

176
00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:34,300
person and basically to say 
listen, we made a mistake, you 

177
00:10:34,300 --> 00:10:37,400
know? 
This person like didn't mean to 

178
00:10:38,300 --> 00:10:40,400
terminate you. 
We're really sorry for the 

179
00:10:40,408 --> 00:10:43,200
confusion. 
Here's what we need from you and

180
00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:46,900
to actually use that a level as 
a level setting moment, and it 

181
00:10:46,900 --> 00:10:49,700
ended up being totally fine. 
We move forward with my 

182
00:10:49,700 --> 00:10:51,500
recommendation, my partner 
agreed with me. 

183
00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:56,500
We reinstated the person, and 
that person ended up working 

184
00:10:56,500 --> 00:10:59,400
with us for pretty long time. 
And everything was fine. 

185
00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:01,200
And then they found like a 
full-time job. 

186
00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,800
And that was it in some 
situations. 

187
00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:07,500
I think there are Lawyers, who 
would prefer not to admit guilt,

188
00:11:07,900 --> 00:11:11,100
and would rather just cut their 
losses and say, okay, whatever 

189
00:11:11,100 --> 00:11:12,400
you made a mistake. 
Like, we're not going to 

190
00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,100
reinstate that person, but 
actually, I share this story 

191
00:11:15,500 --> 00:11:19,000
because I think that there is 
something important about 

192
00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,100
businesses owning their actions 
and mistakes. 

193
00:11:22,500 --> 00:11:25,700
And whether it's a business or 
an individual manager, it's a 

194
00:11:25,708 --> 00:11:31,100
big part of the Learning lesson,
that comes with being a manager 

195
00:11:31,100 --> 00:11:32,900
and living through these 
experiences. 

196
00:11:33,300 --> 00:11:37,200
So, I share that because While 
it was a mistake that the 

197
00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:41,400
manager made, it also was like a
totally active decision. 

198
00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,500
That manager knew exactly was 
it, that manager terminated that

199
00:11:45,500 --> 00:11:47,400
person because they were 
frustrated with their 

200
00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:50,800
performance, and that was it the
manager just sent the employee 

201
00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:52,900
home. 
No questions asked. 

202
00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:57,000
And so, I used that opportunity 
after we reinstated the employee

203
00:11:57,300 --> 00:12:00,500
to say to the manager. 
Like listen, you talking about a

204
00:12:00,508 --> 00:12:05,500
human being Could you imagine if
you were terminated on the spot 

205
00:12:05,500 --> 00:12:08,700
and your manager had never had a
performance conversation with 

206
00:12:08,700 --> 00:12:10,700
you. 
How would you feel? 

207
00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:15,500
I bet you would feel like crap 
because I certainly would and 

208
00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:17,700
that manager was like, you know,
I didn't think about it that 

209
00:12:17,700 --> 00:12:21,800
way. 
I just like wanted my process to

210
00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:26,200
move smoothly and I didn't want 
to have any Loose Ends. 

211
00:12:27,300 --> 00:12:30,900
And of course, I understand that
I'm an HR partner, I get it. 

212
00:12:30,900 --> 00:12:33,700
My role in the business is to 
support the business and the 

213
00:12:33,700 --> 00:12:38,800
people, but I also care about 
managers having the most 

214
00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:42,000
productive people in their 
process. 

215
00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,700
But you can't treat those people
like a process. 

216
00:12:45,700 --> 00:12:48,100
You have to treat people like 
people. 

217
00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:51,500
So that's my anecdote. 
Another thing that I wanted to 

218
00:12:51,500 --> 00:12:53,700
share is something that inspired
me. 

219
00:12:54,100 --> 00:13:01,000
So today, I actually connected 
with With a CEO of a business. 

220
00:13:01,100 --> 00:13:03,100
So it's actually his own 
business and I'm going to have 

221
00:13:03,100 --> 00:13:04,800
him on the show in a future 
episode. 

222
00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:12,400
And he was sharing with me that 
his philosophy as a business 

223
00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:18,400
leader, is to focus on people 
behind the process and that and 

224
00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:24,400
that's in super layman's terms. 
And as part of his brand as part

225
00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:29,300
of his company's mission, You 
spend a lot of time talking 

226
00:13:29,300 --> 00:13:35,400
about people and performance and
productivity and being an agile 

227
00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:39,100
member of a culture and creating
agile, cultures and all of these

228
00:13:39,100 --> 00:13:40,600
things. 
And I'm telling you when he is 

229
00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:46,200
on this podcast, I think you are
going to love him, but he 

230
00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:52,100
basically said people don't see,
meaning managers struggle to see

231
00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:54,500
that people are part of the 
solution. 

232
00:13:55,100 --> 00:14:00,300
For example, he He was saying to
me that companies and managers 

233
00:14:00,300 --> 00:14:05,500
all have the same worries and 
concerns and focuses for 

234
00:14:05,500 --> 00:14:08,700
improvement. 
And it's all about people 

235
00:14:08,900 --> 00:14:16,500
whether its turnover or culture 
or whatever is people focused, 

236
00:14:16,500 --> 00:14:19,000
right? 
But when a manager talks about a

237
00:14:19,008 --> 00:14:24,600
solution to those objectives, 
they're leaving out the people 

238
00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:26,600
behind that solution. 
I thought that that was 

239
00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:31,400
Insightful, because it's true. 
I've heard a lot of conversation

240
00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:37,500
from HR people around process 
and how processes need to be 

241
00:14:37,900 --> 00:14:43,400
more efficient, more streamlined
in order to improve the people 

242
00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:45,600
function. 
But actually, I think it's the 

243
00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,500
inverse. 
It's the people who are going to

244
00:14:48,500 --> 00:14:51,200
streamline and make the process 
efficient. 

245
00:14:51,500 --> 00:14:54,200
The process can be streamlined 
and efficient. 

246
00:14:54,300 --> 00:14:57,800
If the people aren't provided 
the At training, given the right

247
00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:02,200
opportunities, right? 
The right fit for the role happy

248
00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:05,200
in their roles engaged. 
It all comes down to people. 

249
00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:07,500
We can't put the cart before the
horse. 

250
00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:12,400
So it's interesting because I've
heard a lot of conversation 

251
00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:18,500
about this how people Centric 
organizations or people Centric 

252
00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:24,700
businesses have a process and 
how the process is the key and 

253
00:15:24,700 --> 00:15:30,100
the technology is the key. 
But I don't think it's the key. 

254
00:15:30,100 --> 00:15:32,900
The key is what makes those 
things work. 

255
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,500
The key is the people were 
talking about people-centric, 

256
00:15:35,500 --> 00:15:36,300
right? 
What does that mean? 

257
00:15:36,300 --> 00:15:39,900
People are at the center. 
So if you have a process that's 

258
00:15:39,900 --> 00:15:43,100
broken, you need to look at your
people and it's not to say that 

259
00:15:43,100 --> 00:15:46,000
those people need to be 
terminated, but it is to say 

260
00:15:46,100 --> 00:15:50,900
that people have to be the 
biggest part of the solution. 

261
00:15:51,100 --> 00:15:56,800
So anyway, getting back to 
terminations my best advice to 

262
00:15:56,900 --> 00:16:03,400
To every manager or HR person is
to think about, terminations in 

263
00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:09,300
a legal perspective, or through 
a legal lens through a human 

264
00:16:09,300 --> 00:16:13,500
lens and through a lens of 
fairness and consistency. 

265
00:16:13,700 --> 00:16:19,600
I also think that as HR managers
and, as people become more 

266
00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:23,000
seasoned and experienced in 
their careers, there will be 

267
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:27,500
less of this threat of lawsuit 
with every A nation. 

268
00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:31,200
Like I've found that I in the 
beginning stages of my career, I

269
00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:34,600
used to think that every time I 
fired someone that they would 

270
00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,700
come back and see the company 
and that is pretty petrifying. 

271
00:16:37,700 --> 00:16:42,000
When you think about it and 
certainly people Sue and that's 

272
00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,600
okay, that is why you have to do
your due diligence and making 

273
00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:46,800
sure that you have 
documentation, making sure that 

274
00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:48,900
you're consistent and that 
you're fair. 

275
00:16:49,700 --> 00:16:54,700
But people also need to be held 
accountable, and you can't shy 

276
00:16:54,700 --> 00:17:01,900
away from that. in recently 
emailed me saying or citing a 

277
00:17:01,900 --> 00:17:06,700
lot of words that normally are 
like red flag words and in 

278
00:17:06,700 --> 00:17:11,900
reality there's no reason for 
concern this person was being a 

279
00:17:11,900 --> 00:17:16,500
little advantageous As an HR 
person, I can go one of two 

280
00:17:16,500 --> 00:17:21,900
ways, either I bend the policy 
and I bend things to smooth 

281
00:17:21,900 --> 00:17:25,500
things over and appease the 
person, or I stand firm in the 

282
00:17:25,508 --> 00:17:27,300
policies. 
Make sure that they're 

283
00:17:27,300 --> 00:17:31,300
accountable to the policies and 
allow them to ask questions if 

284
00:17:31,300 --> 00:17:35,500
they have any and the latter is 
the best position that you can 

285
00:17:35,500 --> 00:17:38,600
take when it comes to being fair
and consistent. 

286
00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:43,300
I have seen a lot of managers 
struggle. 

287
00:17:43,300 --> 00:17:46,400
Especially when Our new and 
their roles struggle with 

288
00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,400
maintaining control over their 
work environment. 

289
00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:54,100
And I say this because it makes 
me think about how we can 

290
00:17:54,100 --> 00:17:58,800
prevent performance Behavior or 
policy issues. 

291
00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:02,000
All of the terminations that 
happen. 

292
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,300
Again, people earn those 
terminations. 

293
00:18:04,300 --> 00:18:07,200
I'm not thinking about or 
talking about layoffs or 

294
00:18:07,208 --> 00:18:10,000
position eliminations because 
those are outside of an 

295
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:13,500
individual's control, but every 
other termination is completely 

296
00:18:13,500 --> 00:18:17,100
earned that that person worked 
hard to be terminated or they 

297
00:18:17,100 --> 00:18:21,200
did absolutely nothing and 
therefore worked very hard to be

298
00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:26,300
terminated because I think it's 
pretty easy actually to stay 

299
00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:31,700
employed when you are doing your
job like just fundamentally 

300
00:18:31,700 --> 00:18:36,000
doing your job, coming to work 
with a positive attitude and a 

301
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,400
team mentality, right? 
Like if we can boil it down to 

302
00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,600
three things, doing your job 
coming to work with a positive 

303
00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:46,200
attitude and Being a team 
player, those three things. 

304
00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,800
If you come to work every day 
with those three things, you're 

305
00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:52,600
probably going to be able to 
stay away from being terminated.

306
00:18:52,700 --> 00:18:56,400
I don't want to speak for 
everybody but that is my feeling

307
00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:00,800
that's my feeling but a big part
of terminations is like, 

308
00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:07,700
thinking about how could we set 
up employees for preventing this

309
00:19:07,700 --> 00:19:10,400
from happening, what I've seen 
throughout my career? 

310
00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:15,000
Is that terminations happen 
because they are You earned, of 

311
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,300
course, excluding layoffs and 
position eliminations but when 

312
00:19:19,300 --> 00:19:22,900
they are earned they are often 
earned by people who were not 

313
00:19:22,900 --> 00:19:26,000
the right fit to begin with who 
shouldn't have been hired. 

314
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:30,100
As really what I'm trying to get
out there or who are in work 

315
00:19:30,100 --> 00:19:34,000
environments where things that 
shouldn't be tolerated are 

316
00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:38,100
tolerated and that is obviously 
a reflection on the manager and 

317
00:19:38,100 --> 00:19:41,600
I have seen this time and time 
again where managers who are not

318
00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:44,000
the right fit or shouldn't have 
been hired in the first? 

319
00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:48,400
Plays or whatever the situation 
is, don't have control over 

320
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,200
their work environment over 
their store, over their 

321
00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:57,900
business, over there District, 
whatever the industry is and 

322
00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,200
problems. 
Persist in those environments 

323
00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,900
where poor behavior is 
tolerated. 

324
00:20:02,900 --> 00:20:07,600
Bad things happen, where people 
don't care about each other, 

325
00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,700
they're not working as a team. 
Bad things happen, things are 

326
00:20:10,700 --> 00:20:13,100
just never good in those 
environments and it takes a 

327
00:20:13,100 --> 00:20:15,900
manager. 
Who's really going to step in, 

328
00:20:16,100 --> 00:20:18,300
hold everyone accountable and 
level set. 

329
00:20:18,300 --> 00:20:22,100
What's tolerable to actually 
make a change? 

330
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,400
And I have always seen that in 
these environments where there 

331
00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,700
are people issues or as we call 
it an HR employee relations 

332
00:20:28,700 --> 00:20:32,700
issues. 
It's the manager, most often who

333
00:20:32,700 --> 00:20:37,200
is struggling and if we can get 
the manager piece, right? 

334
00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:39,600
The other stuff falls into 
place. 

335
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:43,400
For example, one time in my 
career there was a manager who 

336
00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:45,500
was perceived To be really 
strong. 

337
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:51,700
But once we put a new manager 
supervising that person into the

338
00:20:51,700 --> 00:20:54,700
environment, we started to 
uncover some really bad 

339
00:20:54,700 --> 00:20:57,900
behaviors really poor 
performance and we started 

340
00:20:57,900 --> 00:20:59,800
peeling back, the layers, 
peeling back the layers and 

341
00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:03,900
we're we uncovered in that 
moment that that manager 

342
00:21:03,900 --> 00:21:06,900
actually was not doing their job
was not going to work with a 

343
00:21:06,900 --> 00:21:11,600
positive attitude and was not a 
team player on top of finding 

344
00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:17,100
out that there were issues. 
Shoes of retaliation and like, 

345
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:20,200
even though this was a while 
ago, these things still happen. 

346
00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:24,100
Like this is not a rare 
occurrence when it comes to a 

347
00:21:24,108 --> 00:21:28,000
business because businesses have
people working for them and 

348
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,700
where there are people, there's 
always going to be an issue. 

349
00:21:30,700 --> 00:21:33,800
It's just part of the human 
condition. 

350
00:21:34,100 --> 00:21:37,800
And so obviously, we couldn't 
tolerate the behaviors from 

351
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:41,200
that, that manager. 
And so we needed to, you know, 

352
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:45,100
part ways. 
But what we Lies is that we 

353
00:21:45,100 --> 00:21:49,400
needed to get someone who could 
really step in Elevate. 

354
00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:53,900
The morale, bring people back to
the foundational elements of the

355
00:21:53,900 --> 00:21:56,400
business and get it. 
Right. 

356
00:21:56,400 --> 00:22:00,300
Because at that point, so much 
trust has been lost from the 

357
00:22:00,300 --> 00:22:04,700
employees on part of the company
and the manager when someone is 

358
00:22:04,700 --> 00:22:11,100
a bad fit that can impact the 
organization for years, I have 

359
00:22:11,100 --> 00:22:15,300
experienced it myself where 
someone in a Significant and 

360
00:22:15,300 --> 00:22:18,900
critical position was absolutely
the wrong fit. 

361
00:22:18,900 --> 00:22:23,000
And what happened was key 
players including myself felt 

362
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:27,200
ostracized, felt like, you know 
what, maybe this isn't the right

363
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:32,400
place for us and so one of the 
roles that terminations play is 

364
00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:36,100
actually setting. 
The example of what is 

365
00:22:36,100 --> 00:22:41,500
tolerable, what the right fit 
looks like and what is valued at

366
00:22:41,500 --> 00:22:44,300
a company. 
So for example if you and Our 

367
00:22:44,300 --> 00:22:51,300
company can think about someone 
who is rude, not a team player. 

368
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:56,700
Doesn't do their job and they 
stay actively employed and their

369
00:22:56,700 --> 00:23:01,100
manager and HR and whomever 
knows about these issues. 

370
00:23:01,300 --> 00:23:05,300
How is it going to feel for you 
if that person remains part of 

371
00:23:05,300 --> 00:23:07,900
the team? 
It's not going to feel very good

372
00:23:08,500 --> 00:23:11,600
so while terminations are 
confidential and employees who 

373
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,700
are not a part of that 
conversation or Or part of the 

374
00:23:14,700 --> 00:23:19,400
decision-making are not going to
be at Liberty, to know what is 

375
00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:24,800
going on behind the scenes, 
people know when someone is not 

376
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,800
the right fit and people know 
when that person is let go 

377
00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:31,800
because of it. 
So I know I'm talking about a 

378
00:23:31,808 --> 00:23:34,200
lot of things related to 
terminations here, but I think 

379
00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:39,600
that terminations can be a very 
important part of the employment

380
00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:43,900
process for teams and HR people 
and managers. 

381
00:23:44,500 --> 00:23:48,700
Because if you if you hired 
someone for example, who is not 

382
00:23:48,700 --> 00:23:53,100
a good fit and you see it fail 
fast. 

383
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,500
Learn that lesson quickly, if 
you see that someone is not a 

384
00:23:57,508 --> 00:24:00,200
right fit one month after hiring
them. 

385
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,500
Don't wait that much longer like
you give them some feedback. 

386
00:24:04,500 --> 00:24:09,300
Give them room to improve. 
But if they haven't, don't wait 

387
00:24:09,300 --> 00:24:12,300
so long. 
You are running the risk of 

388
00:24:12,300 --> 00:24:16,500
losing top talent. 
As a result of hiring someone 

389
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:21,500
who's not top talent and not the
right cultural fit and keeping 

390
00:24:21,500 --> 00:24:24,600
them on board. 
But I think it still can be 

391
00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:27,900
summed up that you should make 
sure you're doing your due 

392
00:24:27,900 --> 00:24:32,100
diligence, have your 
documentation Be fair and 

393
00:24:32,100 --> 00:24:36,700
consistent and remember that 
these people are people don't 

394
00:24:36,700 --> 00:24:41,800
treat people like objects that 
are replaceable and in and that 

395
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:45,300
lack value. 
At the end of the day, when you 

396
00:24:45,300 --> 00:24:48,800
terminate someone the way you 
terminate them can matter a lot 

397
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:54,200
and how they receive your 
message and how they go out into

398
00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:56,100
the world. 
Obviously, when people get 

399
00:24:56,100 --> 00:24:58,400
terminated they're going to come
up with their own stories that 

400
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:02,900
doesn't matter that's fine but 
they're going to have a much 

401
00:25:02,900 --> 00:25:07,300
better response reaction and 
possibly a better Outlook. 

402
00:25:07,300 --> 00:25:11,300
If you treat them like human 
beings with dignity and respect,

403
00:25:11,500 --> 00:25:14,400
I don't know. 
I feel like everything That 

404
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:16,200
happens with people or that's 
people. 

405
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:20,500
Facing should be thought about 
in the context of how would I 

406
00:25:20,500 --> 00:25:23,700
want it to happen to me? 
How would I want to be spoken 

407
00:25:23,700 --> 00:25:26,300
to? 
How would I want to be treated? 

408
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:32,100
And again, like, if you are numb
to the process, if you are like 

409
00:25:32,100 --> 00:25:37,300
totally immune to the emotional 
elements of someone losing their

410
00:25:37,300 --> 00:25:40,100
job, and then thinking about how
they're going to pay their 

411
00:25:40,100 --> 00:25:43,200
bills, you might need to think 
about your career. 

412
00:25:43,900 --> 00:25:46,600
And if you're in the right 
career, especially if you're an 

413
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,100
HR, especially underline, bold 
italicize. 

414
00:25:51,300 --> 00:25:54,500
It's not to say that I lose 
sleep. 

415
00:25:54,500 --> 00:25:57,700
Always over someone that I'm 
terminating. 

416
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:00,800
Sometimes I do, I'll be really 
Frank. 

417
00:26:01,100 --> 00:26:05,800
I have lost sleep in 
anticipation of a termination 

418
00:26:06,100 --> 00:26:09,900
and after termination, and it's 
just because they're not easy, 

419
00:26:10,300 --> 00:26:12,900
termination suck, even when 
they're earned. 

420
00:26:12,900 --> 00:26:17,100
But it doesn't mean that I'm 
devoid of the understanding of 

421
00:26:17,100 --> 00:26:19,900
the impact. 
Everyone needs to understand the

422
00:26:19,900 --> 00:26:25,800
whys, Going to send you out with
one last hot take and that is 

423
00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:28,100
that you're going to have to 
terminate people. 

424
00:26:28,500 --> 00:26:30,900
If you're a manager, you're 
going to terminate probably a 

425
00:26:30,908 --> 00:26:34,300
lot of people throughout your 
career just don't lose your 

426
00:26:34,300 --> 00:26:39,200
compassion and consideration as 
you go through those experiences

427
00:26:39,500 --> 00:26:42,500
because the better you can hold 
on to your compassion and 

428
00:26:42,500 --> 00:26:44,800
consideration. 
The better the manager you're 

429
00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,400
going to be and the better the 
manager you're going to become 

430
00:26:47,700 --> 00:26:49,500
because it's going to make you 
approachable. 

431
00:26:49,700 --> 00:26:53,100
It's going to keep You humble? 
And it's going to remind you 

432
00:26:53,100 --> 00:26:57,400
that you potentially could be in
their situation and you would 

433
00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,700
want the same consideration as 
always. 

434
00:26:59,700 --> 00:27:03,600
Thank you so much for joining me
for another week of the podcast.

435
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:07,600
Make sure that you follow me on 
Instagram at HR Tracy clubhouse 

436
00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:11,300
at HR. 
Tracy, you can get linked to all

437
00:27:11,300 --> 00:27:15,600
of my events and everything on 
my Instagram. 

438
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,200
Thank you so much. 
Don't forget to rate review And 

439
00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:20,900
subscribe wherever you're 
listening and share it with 

440
00:27:21,100 --> 00:27:22,800
Someone who might like to hear 
it. 

441
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:24,900
Thank you so much. 
See you next week. 

442
00:27:21,100 --> 00:27:22,800
Someone who might like to hear 
it. 

443
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:24,900
Thank you so much. 
See you next week.

