SUSAN, YOUR TECHNICIAN, HAS BEEN LATE SEVERAL times in the past few months. She's been rude to three or four clients. And to top it all off, she left last night without getting all of her work done. So now the surgical packs aren't ready and surgery will be delayed—which of course means no lunch for everyone and probably a very, very long day. You've spoken with Susan but can't fire her, because it's so hard to find technicians and she does have her good days—though they're becoming fewer and fewer.

In the trenches: Three good firing decisions

Still, there's a right way and a wrong way to fire an employee. The wrong way: Go to Susan on Monday, present everything she's been doing wrong and fire her immediately. This "no warning" approach isn't fair to the employee, and it could result in a wrongful termination suit. The right way is to follow this three-step termination process:
1. If there's a performance issue with an employee provide a verbal warning.
2. If the problem is not then resolved, issue the employee a written warning.
3. If it's still not resolved, liberate (read: fire) the problem employee.

Every employee at your practice should always know what's expected of him or her at work and the consequences of failing to meet any of those expectations. The first step toward accomplishing this goal is to create and maintain accurate and updated job descriptions for each employee. After all, if employees don't know what's expected of them, how can you hold them accountable for their actions or inactions?

Next, put your discipline policy in your employee manual. Something like this, "If an employee fails to perform to the stated standards of the practice, he or she will be provided with a verbal warning. If the problem is not resolved, he or she will receive a written warning. And if it's still not resolved, termination will result." Also include a write-up regarding termination for cause. For instance, some actions such as cruelty to animals or dishonesty should result in immediate termination.

Give a verbal warning

Yes, we call this a verbal warning, but you need to document this conversation and keep your notes in the employee's confidential employment file. To deliver a verbal warning, call the employee into a private office and inform him or her of the problem. State it in a factual, not emotional, manner.

"Julie, I need to discuss a problem I'm having with your punctuality. You've come to work late twice during the past two weeks. Your tardiness is causing a problem in our practice because other employees end up doing your work and can't get their own work done. Surgeries started late, doctors and other team members missed lunch, and the disruption even affected our afternoon appointments."