Get Your Under-performing Employee to Quit-Try "Counseling Out"

What is Counseling Out?

Counseling Out is the process of providing enough regular, candid and honest feedback that an employee quits before being fired. Most managers wait too long to fire under-performing employees. It's better for the employee, manager, and company if the employee quits. If Counseling Out is done correctly, your problem employee will find a job and quit before you have to take action. There are usually two scenarios where counseling out can be used: 'Good Employee, Wrong Job' or 'Bad Employee, Really Trying'. Read two true counseling out stories at the end of this article.

Document Everything

Any time an employee may need to be fired, you need to document all communication. Regardless of how hard you try to help your employee or be nice, there is still the risk of a wrongful termination lawsuit. To protect yourself from wrongful termination lawsuits, you should implement some basic Human Resources' best practices. If you are unfamiliar with these practices, consult an attorney to learn how you can protect yourself.

4 Steps to Counseling Out

1.  Establish a Counseling Out Timeline

This first step to Counseling Out an employee is to establish your timeline. Four weeks is usually sufficient. Because you want the right people on your team, do not extend this process for months. When you decide that you are going to start, put an appointment in your calendar as your deadline. If he/she does not quit by your deadline, fire the under-performing employee.

2.  Start with Honest Feedback

It is usually easy to give positive feedback and bonuses, but difficult to cut someone's pay or give a bad review. Although it is sometimes easier to ignore a problem and hope it goes away, that is the wrong approach. Failing to give reviews, being falsely positive or giving undeserved bonuses leads to your team's failure. If you choose to counsel out an employee, honest reviews are vital. Start with an employee meeting to give honest feedback. Prepare a list of the problems with examples to help communicate the message. (For example: John Doe does not follow instructions - On April 15, 2006, John Doe was asked to do X. He did Y.) Be clear that this meeting is not his/her time to defend himself/herself.

This is your time to present all of the issues and let the employee know that the issues can not continue to exist. You may consider letting him/her schedule a meeting with you on the following day if the employee feels the need to explain or defend himself/herself. After you finish communicating your list, both you and your employee should sign and date the document of problems, indicating that it has been clearly communicated. If you believe there is a chance for improvement, you may choose to offer a performance improvement plan. Do not feel obligated to offer such a plan. There are some employees who are just not a good fit for a certain position. Finally, close this meeting with a clear statement like, "John, now would be a good time to start looking for another job."

3. Weekly Reviews

Schedule weekly meetings with your employee through the end of your Counseling Out Timeline. Be careful to not share your timeline with the employee, in case you decide that an earlier than planned dismissal is needed. Use these weekly meetings to make sure that he/she is still providing at least a neutral contribution to your company, and to inquire about the employee's job hunt. If the underperforming employee's attitude or performance is getting worse, point it out and make sure he/she understands that he/she still has a job to do. It is okay to encourage the employee in the job search, to ask what job search tools he/she is using, to offer your name as reference (if you have some positive things to say), and to ask if the employee has had any good leads or interviews. Remember to document any progress, the topics discussed at the weekly meeting, and to both sign a meeting summary before leaving the room.

4. Time's Up - Time to Fire the Underperforming Employee

Hopefully the employee finds a job before the end of your timeline; but if he/she has not, you need to deliver the news that the underperformer is fired. By this point, the employee should be on his/her way toward finding a new job and may already have interviews or a job offer. It is not usually appropriate to offer a 'layoff' or severance package to someone who has been Counseled Out. While it may feel good to do so, you have already given the person a working severance of sorts. Deliver the message, say goodbye, and thank the employee for his/her work.


True Story #1: Good Employee, Wrong Job

"A few years ago I had an employee who had gotten into a rut after four years in the same role. He and I candidly discussed the issues and determined that we needed to find him another opportunity. I talked to other managers, recommending him for a few open positions; and within a month he was on a new team. On that team, he has performed extremely well, is much happier, and is making a great contribution to the company."


True Story #2: Bad Employee, Really Trying

"Last year, I had an employee who was underperforming. I noticed the problem after only a month of employment. Because the job was difficult, I decided to keep encouraging and training, rather than making a quick dismissal. Although she was really trying, she had trouble getting the job done correctly and efficiently. After a few more months of problems, I decided to start four weeks of Counseling Out. She did not quit, but had interviews and good job leads by the time I fired her. Although she pretended to act surprised in our final meeting, she confirmed to former co-workers that she already had another job offer. I did everything possible to help this employee find a new job and felt good about the decisions."


This article is courtesy of Careerbuilder.com and was contributed by Tiffany Worstell, Vision Staff Recruiter-Nationwide.  To contact Tiffany, call (540) 491-9112, or email tworstell@etsvision.com.  To find out more visit www.etsvision.com.

Recruiters See an Increasingly Candidate-Driven Market as Offer Turn-downs Rise

“The only reason the [talent market] is candidate-driven is because the candidate pool is very weak of the top performing individuals. Companies want the ‘Superstars’ today. Average employees are not being hired,” said a recruiter responding to the most recentMRINetwork Recruiter Sentiment Study. According to the report, in the first half of 2013, 68 percent of recruiters characterized today’s labor market as candidate-driven, up 12 points from a year ago. Strikingly, it has become not uncommon for LinkedIn profiles to tell would-be employers to go knock on someone else’s door.

“It’s a candidate-driven market [for those with] specialized skills and [who] are viewed as on the way up in their career,” said another MRINetwork recruiter. “It’s an [employer]-driven market for commodity positions.”

While experienced professionals at the top of their game are, almost by definition, few and far between, some recruiters noted a new trend emerging. For example, early career professionals, those with one to five years of experience, are becoming increasingly difficult to find. The reason isn’t hard to figure out. Since many employers have held back on filling entry-level positions for the last five years, fewer people have had the opportunity to start their careers over that time. The unemployment rate for those between the ages of 20 and 24 years old is 13.7 percent, nearly double the rate of those 25 to 54 years old (6.7 percent).

One survey respondent went so far as to say that, “Employers can expect a candidate-driven market for the next ten years due to the shortage of existing accomplished talent.” Perhaps the clearest indication of the candidate-driven market is the growing prevalence of candidates not just leaving their existing jobs, but turning down job offers.

As one recruiter noted, “Hiring is always buying and selling for all parties. [Employers] need to be reminded sometimes that it is equally as important to vet a strong candidate as it is to sell them on, ‘Why us.’” Today, top candidates have other opportunities that they are either actively pursuing or know they could pursue.

According to the study, of candidates who rejected offers during the last half of 2012, one-third accepted another job offer while 18 percent accepted a counteroffer. In 2012, counteroffers appeared to grow in frequency and veracity, possibly because hiring authorities, growing wise to the difficulty of finding top talent in this marketplace, opt to provide generous counteroffers rather than risk starting with someone new.

“Recently, we have had candidates receiving counteroffers. We are dealing with top prospects here, but only lately have [they appeared] good enough to be accepted. Prior to Q4 [2012], we hadn’t seen a counteroffer worth accepting in four years. That has changed now,” said one respondent. 

The results from this study clearly do not represent the employment market at large, but rather the management and professional segment of the talent market for whichMRINetwork recruiters are normally sought after to find top talent. However, even with the economy growing at a snail’s pace, the competition for this level of talent appears to be growing as the availability continues to diminish.