should I give people a heads-up before their coworker is fired?
A reader writes:
I am working with HR to let someone go. The person is directly involved in a number of active cross-functional projects.
Typically terminations in our organization are communicated post-event, but I feel like I will be blindsiding several team members. The termination shouldn’t be a major surprise as this individual has had performance issues, including interpersonal issues.
Would you ever recommend giving select team members — potentially managers and project managers — a heads-up that this event is coming so they can somewhat prepare? I thought about communicating it vaguely, e.g. “change is coming that may affect this project,” but that would just create more confusion and paranoia. Or, do I just sit tight and deal with the teams after the deed is done?
I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.
Other questions I’m answering there today include:
- Text-speak at work
- Keeping in touch with a coworker who got laid off when I didn’t
