Chapter 10, Separating and Retaining Employees

This chapter hits close to home for most of us. We have all either been laid off, fired, or are close to someone who has. It is not a wonderful experience, but it can be done tactfully and appropriately. I liked the descriptions the book has of appropriate things to consider when terminating an employee: Outcome fairness, Procedural justice, and Interactional Justice. When all of these things are considered, the departing employee will have minimal problems, in most cases. On the other end of the spectrum, is there such a thing as wrongful discharge to the person being discharged? I don't think I know a single person who said, yes I deserved to get fired. They always turn it around and blame the employer, or say they deserved another chance. As long as they can find something wrong that the employer did, this eases their conscience about losing their job. However, if the Human Resource personnel can find a way to spare their feelings as much as possible and spell out exactly why they are being terminated, then any repercussions the employer may experience, can more likely be avoided.