Contact Us
CFO + COO
  • Home
  • Consulting Services
    • Fractional CFO
    • Operations Improvement
    • Strategic Planning & Organization Design
    • Data Analytics Services
  • Who We Are
  • Insights
  • Books We Love
  • Menu Menu
Blog - Latest News
Infographics

How to Fire Someone: When It’s Not Working With a New Employee

We all want to be great leaders, inspiring our teams to reach their full potential.

But what do we do when it’s just not working out with someone, especially earlier in the relationship? Here’s some tips for hopefully figuring it out and then gracefully moving on if necessary.

Make sure we understand why it’s happening. A conversation where we ask “I’ve noticed (insert shortcoming or behavior) happened yesterday as well as the Monday before. Can you help me understand better why that’s happening?”

Make sure there’s been enough of the right training and helpful materials have been provided. Too often, we feel people should be able to come in and “figure it out like we did”. Things are usually not as easy as we think for people to learn, so make sure you design training for someone who knows nothing about your product, service and systems when they start.

Ask yourself if you’re dedicating enough of the right person’s time early on. If the assigned trainer is also a functioning team member and is just as productive as normal the first few weeks with a new employee, chances are they’re not spending enough time with them.

When we discuss shortcomings, focus on the specific behaviors and not personality adjectives. “I noticed it takes 15 minutes for you to enter an order, we find most people can do it in 3 or 4 minutes after a month” works a lot better than “It seems like you’re too slow to keep up with our pace here.”

When it’s clear it’s not working out, be sure to say it. No one should ever be surprised. Written warnings and performance improvement plans aren’t just HR paperwork. They’re a chance to have up front conversations and treat people like human beings with families, house payments and feelings when it’s not working out. They put employees on notice that things aren’t going as they should – if they’re at risk of being let go, be willing to say it. It gives employees a chance to move on under their terms with dignity and pride.

If it keeps happening over and over in the same role, ask yourself if you’re really setting people up for success. Good people can succeed in situations where they’re set up for success. Are you hiring people with too little experience due to budget? Are the tools in place for people to succeed? Is the role and training well designed? It doesn’t just keep happening.

February 24, 2025/by Ryan Knaack
Tags: employees, firing, management
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on X
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://peakcfocoo.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/peak-business-navigation-reversed.svg 0 0 Ryan Knaack https://peakcfocoo.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/peak-business-navigation-reversed.svg Ryan Knaack2025-02-24 10:44:092025-02-20 08:59:11How to Fire Someone: When It’s Not Working With a New Employee
You might also like
Segmentation and Focus Infographic Segmentation and Focus
Switching from QuickBooks to an ERP Infographic Switching from QuickBooks to an ERP
Radical Candor Book Review Book Review: “Radical Candor” by Kim Scott
The Situational Leader Book Review Book Review: “The Situational Leader” by Dr. Paul Hershey
RASI Chart Infographic RASI Chart – Responsibility Assignment Matrix
First, Break All the Rules Book Review Book Review: “First, Break All the Rules” by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman
Search Search

Categories

  • Blog
  • Books We Love
  • Infographics

Recent Posts

  • Picking Great Metrics for Your Teams
  • Book Review: “The Great Game of Business” by Jack Stack
  • How to Fire Someone: When It’s Not Working With a New Employee
  • Book Review: “Our Iceberg Is Melting” by John Kotter
  • Segmentation and Focus

Archives

  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024

Peak Business Navigation is based in Madison, WI, serving clients in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana.

Let’s Connect

ryan.knaack@peakcfocoo.com

608-217-6642

© 2025 All rights reserved. | 1 Day Website by Bizzy Bizzy
Link to: Book Review: “Our Iceberg Is Melting” by John Kotter Link to: Book Review: “Our Iceberg Is Melting” by John Kotter Book Review: “Our Iceberg Is Melting” by John KotterOur Iceberg is Melting Book Review Link to: Book Review: “The Great Game of Business” by Jack Stack Link to: Book Review: “The Great Game of Business” by Jack Stack The Great Game of Business Book ReviewBook Review: “The Great Game of Business” by Jack Stack
Scroll to top Scroll to top Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more×

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Terms and Conditions
Accept settingsHide notification only