Share The Knowledge: Forward this newsletter to a colleague.

Subscribe to AHI's Free E-Mail Newsletters: • HR Soapbox • Benefits Alert • Employment Law Today View samples and subscribe by visiting our website.

1. FEATURE STORY:
PEACEFULLY PARTING WAYS WITH AN EMPLOYEE

Let's face it, being fired stinks. Some employees, however, handle the news better than others. According to a survey by Risk Control Strategies, a threat management and risk assessment firm headquartered in New York City, job loss was cited by employers both big and small as one of the top three factors that contributed to instances of workplace violence at their firms. Eighty-one percent of the 602 senior executives surveyed reported that the number of violent incidents at their firms increased over the last two years, and 58% blamed that increase, in large part, to job loss.

One reason ex-employees might seek revenge against their employers is because, in their eyes, their employer embarrassed them on their way out, e.g., hovered over them while they packed up their workspace; had security escort them out for no good reason. Allowing employees to leave with dignity will go a long way in dissipating their anger over being let go. Here's how to ensure that employees don't leave your organization with a bad taste in their mouth.

• Conduct the termination meeting in a neutral location so the employee doesn't feel cornered and attacked.

• Schedule the meeting early in the week. Giving the employee the news on a Monday, for example, prevents him/her from plotting revenge over the weekend and allows the company to start immediate outplacement services.

• Explain why the employee is being let go and answer any questions he/she may have about benefits, pay, etc. Be sure to stress that the decision to terminate is nothing personal.

• Offer outplacement services. Doing so focuses the employee's attention on the future and discourages brooding about the past.

• Inform the employee that he/she may use the company's grievance procedure for any final work-related complaints.

• Allow the employee to collect his/her personal belongings after hours, during lunchtime, or over a weekend (with a management employee present, of course) when fewer colleagues are around.

• Collect company belongings from the employee during this time also; or at least behind closed doors, out of the sight of others.

• If it's necessary to supervise the employee as he/she packs up personal effects and/or as he/she leaves the premises, be subtle about it. Avoid hovering over the employee as he/she packs up or taking the employee by the arm as he/she walks out.

If the employee's behavior pre-termination causes you to fear that he/she poses a risk to other employees, yourself, or the company, put these defensive strategies to work.

• Conduct the termination with a third party present. If necessary, make sure security is nearby.

• Place physical obstructions, such as a desk, between you and the employee when delivering the termination news.

• Sit closer to the door. Never place a volatile employee between you and the exit.

• Be prepared to get the employee off the premises as quickly as possible. This means having in hand his/her final paycheck, information on benefits, and the like, plus a number to call if he/she has questions. This may also mean not allowing the employee to clean out his/her workspace. Instead, have a supervisor do it, then ship the employee's personal belongings to his/her residence.

• Beef up security post-termination. Change locks; deactivate the employee's keycard or badge; change passwords; notify building security.

For more guidance on managing the immediate and long-term risks associated with the termination of hotheaded employees, join AHI and Marc McElhaney, PhD, for the High-Risk Employee Terminations: Reducing The Risk Of Violence, Before, During & After The Separation web conference on September 11, 2007.

2. CATHIE'S CORNER:
SUCCESSION PLANNING TAKES CROSS-TRAINING

A colleague of mine recently asked, "I want to do succession planning, but how do I ask someone if they're planning to retire?" She was concerned, and rightly so, that asking the employee whether he had any immediate plans to retire might be seen as looking to push him out of his position. Singling out employees who are close to retirement can be seen as age discrimination.

With all due respect to my colleague, that's not the only problem with her ideas on succession planning. Succession planning should be done not only on prospective retirees, but on all key positions. After all, you never know who might decide to leave your company after having a baby or to open their own business or for a better offer. And heaven forbid this should ever happen to any employee, but anyone can be in a car accident and killed or permanently injured so that they are no longer able to work.

Succession planning also needs to be a rather fluid process. You can groom an employee to succeed an executive, but what if the executive stays in their position for five or 10 years before moving on or moving up? The employee you've identified as the successor may move on him/herself within that time.

So I like to keep my options open by doing cross-training. There should never be a position in your organization that only one person knows how to do. Even when you have a highly specialized position, someone else should have working knowledge of how to perform the duties. Ideally, I like to be certain that an employee is secure in and comfortable with their own assigned duties before training them on anyone else's.

By making sure that there are several people who know how to do each job, you'll be in the enviable position of having more than one potential successor candidate. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have specific successor candidates in mind, but it does mean you won't be left hanging if the top pick for successor gives their notice before the incumbent does.

Cross-training comes in handy not just when a key employee is promoted or resigns, but also for covering short-term absences, such as a medical leave or vacation.

Catherine Bannon is the President of HR by Request, Inc., in Marshfield, MA (catherine.bannon@gmail.com). Bannon worked for 10 years in HR management before starting her consulting firm.

EMPLOYEES' MAIL IS EMPLOYER'S PROPERTY

Employees often have personal items mailed to them at work rather than home for a variety of reasons... View the full story on our website.

FREE REPORT

Check out the new Free Report, "When School's In Session And Employees Are Out," which provides you with a state-by-state summary of the statutes under which parents and guardians are entitled to time off to tend to a child's school-related activities.