A Leader’s Let Down; The 4 Keys to Letting Employees Down Like a Leader!

Too many Employees naively believe their Bosses rise and shine daily with an urge to walk into work with the sole intent of ruining their day, Lol! As if their Boss can’t wait to have difficult conversations and terminate people. This couldn’t be farther from the truth… as most Leaders are more anxious about having difficult conversations than the Employee! The Leader knows it’s coming, is practicing how to say it, doesn’t want to say it, wishes they didn’t have to say it, is up late the night before anxiously rehearsing it, and has to wake up the next day to deliver it, and give it well… sound familiar?

Whether they’ve earned it or not, there’s not much worse than terminating someone. However, at least when the discussion is over, there’s no further contact unless you run into each other out in “the real world” or your paths cross professionally down the line; which happens more often than you may think and is a great reminder to be as respectful and honest as possible during the “Let-Go” process. However, rarely discussed is the Employee who’s striving to do more and be more; however their passion outweighs their ability to effectively meet the needs and desired requirements for the new position. Now what?

As a Leader, you must address it and break the news. If they’re not being terminated and will continue to remain at the company, you will most likely still see each other… and may even see each other daily, depending on the company’s size. They will certainly have feelings and conversations with Coworkers that may impact company culture… and/or they may decide to quit! So, how do you break bad news and let an Employee down like a Leader; enhancing your Leadership and theirs?

Clear Expectations!

Let’s start from the beginning! When a position becomes available within your organization; as a Leader, it’s imperative for you to know what impact you desire it to have on the bottom line, on the Team, the organization, and those you serve. Will the new position focus on enhancing the vision and future of the company, internal strategy related to processes, procedures, and connecting departments for efficient workflow and production, external strategy related to marketing and advertising, or the mobilization of Employees; the day-to-day operations and metrics for more efficiency.

You may have a Direct Report in mind for the position or they request an opportunity to fulfill the role. When this is the case, be sure to share:

• Your expectations related to the position: their new job description, duties, and expectations.
• What do you believe their professional superpowers and how can they be used as an asset within the new role
• What their blind spots are and what they can do to improve
• Ask why they want the position and their Leader’s 3; Their Vision for their new Team and Vision Factors (the 3-5 things that when their Team does them consistently the Vision must happen), their Expectations for their Employees, and their Rules.
• Ask what they’re most excited about regarding the new position
• Ask what are they most anxious about
• Provide a timeframe from the initial discussion about the opportunity to hire date. Living in limbo is no fun for anyone!

Being clear in these areas will save a lot of personal and professional grief if you decide to go in a different direction and hire externally for any reason. It gives you… and them… a professional GPS, a plan of actual things to consider and work on. The truth is, you know your Employee better than an external option. You know what they are great at, what they need to improve, and how far they can take the role.

I always like to ask Leaders, “On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best… where does your Employee who’s interested in promotion rank as it relates to the desired role?”. When your answer is a 5 or below… is it realistic to consider the promotion? It may be… when you have time for extensive training, patience for mistakes and lower-quality outcomes until they become more proficient and comfortable. If not, then you have your answer!

When you rate them 5 or above, understand most people can increase a number or two; from a 5 to a 7, or 7 to a 9; but expecting a 5 to be a 10 typically isn’t fair! It’s also important to remember that your external prospect won’t likely be a 10 either. They will bring great things to the table, but will inevitably have their own cons, will have to learn your company and team culture, and will certainly have growing pains for their own… Be Mindful!

Are You Meeting?

If you’re reading this, I’m sure you already know how BUSY things can be! You have your ten meetings per day, putting out fires, your actual work to do, etc. All of a sudden, you look up and it’s time for the Review Meeting with your Employee up for the promotion…  however, you haven’t had your 1-on-1’s. It wasn’t intentional, but due to “BUSY”, vacations, remote work, project deadlines, and or pressing issues… they just didn’t happen.

Therefore, please schedule your 1-on-1’s, put them in your professional calendar with alerts and notifications, and increase the frequency to ensure your Employee has an opportunity to move up the two or more numbers. Your Employee is either going to be:

1. A success at the company in their new role
2. A success at the company in their existing role with more knowledge and understanding
3. Or, a success at another company now or later because you were of impact… and we must be OK with all of these options!

During your 1-on-1 Meetings, here’s the flow I suggest:

• P.O.W. – Their Positive of the Week – Professionally and Personally (if they are OK with sharing both… awesome)
• Get Out of It – What would you like to get out of our meeting today?
• Mesh Goals – This is the time to review their progress, or lack thereof. Ask them to share work they’re most proud of and work they’re concerned about related to their current role and possible new role. Ask if they had those situations to do over again, what would they do differently and why? When they have a great answer, PERFECT! When they don’t, Lead them with your answer and explain how it helps not only THEM, but OTHERS, the COMPNAY, and CLIENTS/CUSTOMERS.
• Plan – Ask their plan to improve until the next scheduled 1-on-1. When they struggle to have a plan, provide one! Be sure to email it also… as an undocumented conversation never happened.
• Biggest Takeaway – When you feel compelled to share your Biggest Takeaway of the meeting, you share first. ALWAYS end with theirs, “What was your Biggest Takeaway from our meeting today?”. They get to walk away feeling they got something from your time together… and what they say may surprise you!

Decision Time!

The time has come… are you promoting them or hiring externally? When you’re promoting them, it’s an exciting time for you, them, and the Team! You know who they are, their strong points, and improvement points, they know the pulse of the Team, and off you go!

When you opt for the external route… this is an anxious time for you as a Leader. You have to break the news, set expectations, see how they’ll react, if they’ll stay on in their current role, and will they do so professionally or will there be a dip in their work or team culture as they transition from an “Inspired & Motived Employee” to a possible “Grouch” or “Here, but Not Here”; doing just enough to bide their time as they seek employment elsewhere! So, how to let them down like a Leader?

The flow I suggest to Let Down Like a Leader is:

What/Why/What Now!

What – You’ve either scheduled a meeting to deliver the news, or it’s occurring in your scheduled 1-on-1. Most Leaders are anxious and either begin the meeting talking too much about everything, nothing, or over-praise the candidate in hopes of softening the blow. My advice is to welcome the person, share what this particular meeting with me about (The Decision), and share the direction the company will be going in.

Why – After sharing the direction, share what they struggled with and why more proficiency in those areas is critical to the company’s vision and plans. Then, share what they improved on and did great in and how their evolution will help them in their role now and in the future.

What Now – There’s no telling what your Employee may be feeling right now: anger, frustration, bewilderment, embarrassment, possible relief? Therefore, share what their immediate future will look like within the company and on the Team. Remember, their coworkers saw them doing the work, talking about the opportunity, and they were doing their best… now what for them?

As a Leader, it’s important to share what STAYING at the company in their role will look like. Will it be the same job? New responsibilities due to their recent enhanced training? Will they retain their old title? Due to their advanced knowledge, will they have an altered role and new title? If so, what will it be and be sure to announce it!

Will they decide to move-on? This could happen… you’ve trained them, they believe they can do the job, and be mindful… their feelings could be hurt. The truth is, their 60% capability is better than someone’s 40% capability over at Company B. They may be a true asset at Company B and you may lose them. When this is the case; stay convinced in your decision to hire externally, thank them for letting you train them, and wish them all the best as they move-on in their professional career! You don’t know if they’ll be back in six months (it happens), or if one day you’ll be their Boss over at Company B, or… one day, they’ll be your Boss at Company C! It’s happened to me… my old Boss at Company A became my Employee at Company B; we both handled it like champs due to how great he was with me when I was his Employee… Be Mindful!

Partnership Opportunity!

When the Employee decides to remain at the company in the same role or is reseated, be sure to introduce the importance of “Partnership”. The external hire will need help getting acclimated. Although they are more proficient in desired areas, they still don’t know the inner-workings of the Team, the Organization, and your Clientele. It’s also imperative that the external hire is aware that the internal candidate was up for the position and will be sharing information to make their transition more seamless until they can get their professional legs under them.

Lastly, please introduce your internal candidate’s role, or adjusted role, and their authority span in a group meeting; not only for them and their ego… but, also for their Coworkers to see how it may look when they’re ready to grow within the organization. Remember, you want and need people to desire professional growth and to see what it can look like at its best and also at its worst!

Introduce your external hire the same way. This will happen separately of course… once you post the position, your Team will know and begin to gossip. Beat the gossip by introducing your internal candidate the way described above before the job posting releases. Then, once the new hire arrives… have a group meeting introducing Team Leads and their authority span; end with your new external hire!

You know the 4 Keys to Letting Down Like a Leader… What was your Biggest Takeaway? What will you implement into your professional toolbox moving forward to make you more of a Complete Leader?

Written by: Andre Young