What to Do When You Make a Firing Mistake

 Many of you have fired someone at some point (likely about 80%). The odds are some of you made a mistake in doing so along the way. A true mark of a leader is how you’ve handled things since you made that mistake.

Firing someone is difficult. We’ve discussed before how it’s critical to be direct and simple when delivering that message. We’ve told you about how to (and not to) deliver bad news and feedback. We’ve even covered how to recover from being fired yourself. What we’ve never discussed before is how to handle a firing mistake.

Recently I was lucky enough to be selected as the SmartPulse Analyst for SmartBrief on Leadership. Every week on SmartBrief they ask a question of the leaders who are readers (By the way, if you’re not regularly reading SmartBrief, you need to. Do it. Now. But then come back and read the rest of this). The first poll I was asked to respond to/analyze asked “Have you ever fired someone and later realized it was a mistake?”

As I read the question, I interpreted it to mean the leader canned someone for performance or for an “event” and after the fact realized they had made the wrong decision. I’m assuming poll respondents are NOT referring to firings related to layoffs where they received mandates to fire people but they didn’t believe in the layoff itself.

The results were unsettling. Respondents said:

– No, because I stand by all my firing decisions: 55%
– Yes, but don’t sweat it – it’s just part of the risk you take as a leader: 20%
– Yes, and it still bugs me: 9%
(the remaining participants have never actually fired someone)

Only 9% were still bothered by their mistake. 20% simply don’t sweat it. 55% hide behind the guise of a leader always has to stand behind their decisions. Wow. Disappointing. Very disappointing. I was honestly expecting a dramatically different result.

Here’s why this is so disturbing:

When you fire someone, you change their life. Sure, to you as the leader the impact is minimal. You have to have one uncomfortable conversation (or for cowards, HR has to have an uncomfortable conversation). You have to go hire someone new. You have to redistribute workload in the interim. The firing may have even helped you meet some aggressive budget cut numbers. But after a few months, business goes on.

For the person who was wrongfully terminated, the impact is traumatic. They have to figure out how they’re going to pay their mortgage, feed their family, and find a new job. They might have to decimate their retirement savings to pay for things while they’re out of work. Assuming they save 10% of their annual income and if they’re out of work for 6 months, it will take them 5 YEARS to replace those savings.

Not only that, YOUR mistake has caused emotional damage. The individual loses trust in others. Their relationships undergo tremendous stress. Physical trauma (weight gain, cholesterol, smoking, alcoholism) can result from those prolonged periods of stress.

But you? You made a mistake. Don’t sweat it. It happens.

Wrong. As a leader, you at least have the obligation to learn from this mistake and to never repeat it. You have an obligation to understand what went wrong and be that much more rigorous next time.

I’m not asking you to go tell the individual you made a mistake. I understand the legal liabilities that can arise for your organization for wrongful terminations (although the bravest of you will acknowledge the mistake and reinstate the individual to their job if they’re willing to take it back). Another option is to admit your mistake internally and seek some severance compensation to help the individual bridge the gap until they find another role.

“Not sweating it” is not acceptable. It’s a cavalier and immature attitude that completely lacks empathy and understanding of the ramifications *outside* of work that a termination can cause.

Yes, we all make mistakes. When we’re going to impact someone’s life, the burden of proof goes up exponentially. The rigor with which you make such decisions is critical. You owe it to that person to get that decision right. Yes, you should stand by your decision but you *must* learn from it and prevent the mistake from happening again.

If, as a leader, you fail to acknowledge the mistake, you also run the risk of losing members of your team and destroying morale. We all know people talk. People stay friends outside of work. You can be darn sure the fired person will let their former co-workers know about the mistake. How do you think the folks remaining behind will feel about you as a leader? That’s what I thought.

The mantle of leadership is heavy. You have the lives and careers of other people in your hands. You’re entrusted with their well-being. You should be “bugged” when you make a mistake like this because that “bug” will serve as a reminder not to make the mistake again. It will guide you to be more rigorous next time. It might help you reverse a bad decision. Hiding behind “well that’s the risk you take” is naive and immature. Grow up and appreciate the broader impacts your decisions have.

Yes. I’m very disappointed in these results. Would you be eager to work for one of the folks who “don’t sweat” these mistakes? Didn’t think so. Then don’t be one of them.

Have you ever made a firing mistake? How did you handle it? Please share your thoughts so all of us can grow from your experiences and become better leaders in critical situations like these.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Photo: White-Out and Shadow by J B