There are different grounds for firing someone at work, and not being a good fit is one of these. You might be familiar with the most popular reasons for firing an employee such as poor work habits, failure to perform job duties, or misconduct. These reasons rank highest on the list of reasons why an employer might decide to fire an employee. However, if you notice that someone who works for you is not a good fit for your organization’s culture, you can decide to terminate their employment.
The process of hiring employees is one of the most challenging and sensitive ones for employers and business owners.
This is so because your choice of employees will have a major role play your business’ success.
And of course, no business owner sets up a business for failure.
This is because the goal is always to grow the firm and be successful.
Therefore, you cannot overlook the importance of being thorough and effective in the process of hiring employees.
However, regardless of how thorough you are in this and how well you plan your recruitment exercise, you can still end up with some poor fits.
Poor fits employees might even be hardworking, talented, and skilled.
But they are not just in the right job for them.
As such, you can say that the employee is a good hire but for the wrong job.
When you find yourself in this situation, how do you handle it?
If the decision comes down to firing someone who is not a good fit, what process should you take?
It should be a process to ensure it’s done wisely and professionally.
You must also ensure that you adhere to all the specified regulations governing employment where you work.
Who is an employee that you can consider a poor fit for your organization in the first place?
Let’s see.
How to Fire Someone Who Is Not a Good Fit – What it Means to not be a Good Fit
You can refer to someone who is not a good fit as a poor fit for the organization.
Usually, the measure of whether someone is a good fit for your organization comes down to the workplace culture.
Every organization has a working culture.
This drives the employees towards the goals and vision of the workplace.
When everyone working on your team understands the principles of the culture of the place, everything works smoothly.
However, you might hire someone who struggles to fit in with the culture of your organization.
They might struggle to adapt to the team.
Also, they might have certain aspects of their personality that are affecting their ability to work with others.
In such a situation, you might be dealing with someone who is not a good fit for your organization.
For this individual, it doesn’t mean that the person has a bad work ethic or is not good enough.
The problem boils down to the fact that they have a different personality or way of working which is different from your organization’s.
Their presence on the team might be causing more harm than good.
And it can have the potential to cause conflicts in the workplace.
Further Meaning
Additionally, someone who is not a good fit for your organization might be doing a job that doesn’t align with their skill set.
While they can learn this, you might not have the liberty to provide the necessary training.
The employee in question might not even be open to that.
As a manager, you might find that they are better for another industry or job.
In the best interest of your organization, you might decide that it is better to fire them.
Now, see some of the signs that show someone is not a good fit for your organization which might warrant firing them.
Note that someone might be a good fit for your organization but not just a good fit for the job they do.
Hence, it is important to learn the difference.
First, see signs that might indicate that someone is not a good fit for the job they do.
How to Fire Someone Who Is Not a Good Fit – Signs That Someone is not a Good Fit For a Job Role
When considering whether an employee is not a good fit in your organization, there are two sides.
You need to find out if they are not a good fit for their job or the firm as a whole.
Usually, the sign that someone is not a good fit for the organization is when they do not align with the culture of the place.
This will reveal some other actions and inactions from them as you will soon see.
However, let us first see the signs that might indicate that someone is not a good fit for their job role.
Everything Gets Boring for Them Easily
This is one of the signs that might indicate that an employee or someone on your team isn’t a right fit for the job.
Usually, when you do what you love to do and what you are skilled at, engagement comes easily.
However, when someone is not passionate about the job at hand or does not even have the necessary expertise for the job, it shows.
They lose interest easily and their jobs often get boring for them.
As a manager, you need to take notice of this as it can indicate that the employee is not a good fit for the job.
They Often Tell You That You Underutilize Them
Another sign that someone is not a good fit for their job is when they don’t optimally use their strengths.
It could be that they often tell you they feel underutilized in their role.
And they might feel that they would do better in another capacity.
You might also see some signs to support their views.
These signs might make you come to the conclusion that they are best for a different role.
In that case, you have someone on your team who is not a good fit for their job role and needs your intervention.
They Struggle with Confidence in Their Job Role
Do you have someone who is low in confidence when it comes to participating in discussions?
It could be that during meetings of the team members, they lack the confidence to contribute.
In some instances, the employee might need coaching and training to address their confidence issues.
In order instances, this could also be a sign that they do not fit in properly to their job role and might need a change.
How to Fire Someone Who Is Not a Good Fit – They Lack Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is often one of the most glaring signs that someone enjoys his/her job and sees it as a right fit.
If you have the right person doing the wrong job, or in other words someone who is not a good fit for the job role, there can be no satisfaction.
These types of people don’t experience joy in their job.
Even when they make great strides at work, or have certain achievements or accomplishments, it doesn’t give them happiness.
The excitement for what they do or the results they get in the process is just not there.
This is an indication that the employee is not a good fit for the job.
They Can’t Seem to Master Their Job Roles Even With Constant Training
You should expect employees to struggle at their jobs sometimes.
This is especially when the person is a new hire or has no experience in the role.
When this happens, you should not quickly conclude that the employee is not a good fit for the job, especially if the passion and willingness to learn are there.
That is why training is important, as this can help to bring an employee up to speed with the requirements of a job role.
However, there is a limit to how much training you can provide and how far you can go with this.
If after providing constant training for an employee and they can’t just seem to master the job, it could be a sign that they are not a good fit.
They Tell You They are Not Happy With Their Job
You might have this employee who is a hard worker and constantly tries his or her best at work.
But they approach you not once or twice, that they don’t think you value them or find joy in the work they do.
That is also another sign to indicate that they are not a good fit for their job.
How to Handle Someone Who is Not a Good Fit For Their Job
It shouldn’t surprise you when you have employees who prove not to be a good fit for their jobs.
This is because we all have individual abilities, skills, and talents.
And hence, a person who might be excellent in a particular department or job role might struggle in another.
When you end up having someone on your team who is not a good fit, it doesn’t spell all bad news.
It also does not mean you are a failure or your recruitment process is faulty.
Often, someone who is not a good fit for a job role might perform excellently in another.
Therefore, for this kind of situation, it is best to see if the employee will be better in a different role in the organization.
If the answer is yes, then you can move them to another department or give them a different role where they can excel.
Also, could it be that the reason why they seem not to be a good fit for their job role is that they do not have proper training?
If that is the case, then you as an employer and/or manager have the responsibility of providing this training.
Who knows? After such training, they might just improve their performance and be the right fit for the job.
For this kind of situation, firing the employee should come as a last resort, not the first option.
It is only after you exhaust other alternatives and the presence of the employee is causing more harm than good for the organization that termination can come in.
How to Fire Someone Who Is Not a Good Fit – Deciding If Someone is Not a Good Fit For Your Organization
There you find some signs to show that someone is not a good fit for their job roles.
You’ve also seen how best to handle that situation.
The more serious situation is that of someone who is not a good fit for your organization.
How do you determine this or come to that conclusion?
The primary indicator that someone is not a good fit for your organization is when they don’t fit the organization’s culture.
This time, it is not just a problem of the right person doing the wrong job, but the right/wrong person in the wrong organization.
Every organization has a culture that dictates how leadership works and how every employee carries out their duties.
No doubt, your organization also has this.
When you have employees who relate to the culture of your organization, everything works smoothly.
Productivity and job efficiency is on the high, and workplace conflicts are also minimal.
On the other hand, when someone doesn’t share the culture of your organization, then the opposite happens.
Their presence on the team might be adversely affecting the productivity of the team and their job is suffering because of them.
Other Signs
They might also not follow the moral ethics of the workplace, and dishonesty or lack of integrity might be their common traits.
Another sign of someone not being a good fit for your organization is when they foster disunity and workplace conflicts.
This would also have negative effects on the team’s productivity as a whole, and it might be best to let them go.
You can also find someone who is not a good fit for your firm and you need to fire when the direction or vision of your organization changes.
This change is constant, and moving forward, they just might not possess the relevant skills or expertise to work with you.
That is also a sign that they are not a good fit for your organization and a need for them to go.
All these signs can help you to decide when someone is not a good fit for your organization.
How to Fire Someone Who Is Not a Good Fit
As you’ve seen so far, there might be a case of someone not being a good fit for their job or not being a good fit for your organization.
For the former, you might find some ways to properly integrate the employee in a better role for them if possible.
If their performance continues to impact the firm negatively, then you might need to fire them.
For the latter, the best line of action is always to let them go as soon as you notice this.
But then, how do you properly fire someone who is not a good fit, ensuring it doesn’t cause problems between both of you and other employees?
Here are some practical tips that can help:
Have a Process in Place to Accurately Identify Poorly Fit Employees
Deciding to fire someone who you deem not to be a good fit for your organization is a sensitive decision.
The reason is that the decision can come off as subjective by those it affects.
Even others too if there is no proper process in place.
It is easy for the person you fire to feel sad or even suggest that the decision was unfair.
To avoid that, you need to have a process in place, documentation that shows policies that directs the organization.
With this, it is easier to make an objective decision as to whether or not someone is not a good fit for your organization.
Document Their Performance or Behaviour and the Effects
You cannot decide to fire someone on the grounds of them not being a good fit without evidence to back your decision up.
For you to have this evidence, you must document the performance of this employee and their behaviors.
In your documentation, show how their performance and/or behavior impacts work and productivity negatively.
This will ensure they receive the decision well and see it as fair when it’s finally taken.
Hold a Face-to-Face Meeting
The process of communicating your decision to fire someone who is not a good fit should be a face-to-face meeting.
You should not have this discussion or conversation over the phone or through a text message.
The person who is being let go deserves the dignity of having someone sit with him/her.
Most likely, the employees know these reasons beforehand and shouldn’t come as a surprise.
That is why the decision to fire should not be the first option but rather as a last resort.
How to Fire Someone Who Is Not a Good Fit – Put It In Writing
Not only should you hold a face-to-face private meeting with the employee you are firing, but you also need to put the decision in writing.
That means writing a termination letter stating the decision and the reasons behind it.
This will ensure you follow the legal process for firing an employee, especially for not being a good fit.
It is also dignifying to the employee.
Allow Them Speak and Listen to Them
While having the meeting where you inform someone you are firing them for not being a good fit, you shouldn’t do all the talking.
There is a big chance that they already saw this coming.
Hence, they might have one or two things to say.
Usually, when someone is not a good fit for the job or organization, they know this and it shows in their work habits and how they feel working for you.
Hence, the decision to let them go isn’t totally bad in itself.
And they will usually take this with less anger or aggression.
Therefore, it is good to let them say their mind and also calmly listen to them as they do this.
Provide a Severance Agreement and Pay
A severance agreement applies when an organization needs to lay off employees due to downsizing or other issues not the fault of the employees.
When firing someone for not being a good fit for your organization, it is different from firing due to misconduct.
Hence, this is not entirely down to them or their fault but an issue with the recruitment process.
It would therefore help your legal case to provide them a severance agreement and also severance pay.
You can learn more about how to calculate a severance package to give to a former employee here.
Provide Help for Them to Move On
When firing someone who is not a good fit, they are not necessarily bad or poor employees.
Their weaknesses which make them unfit for your organization might not be that important in another.
From your interaction with them, you most likely see where their strengths lie and which job or industry suits them.
You can point them in this direction when letting them go, and even provide some recommendations for them if any.
This will offer some sort of relief for them and help them to quickly move on to another job.
Wrapping It Up – How to Fire Someone Who Is Not a Good Fit
Do you have someone on your team who is not a good fit?
Is it for the job role or the organization?
If it is for the job role, there are certain steps you can take to rectify this.
You can even do this before deciding to fire them.
However, the situation might make it hard for you to reach your business goals and negatively impacts productivity.
Then you might need to make the tough decision to let them go.
When firing someone who is not a good fit, try to be as professional as possible.
Also, follow the right measures for this.
This will ensure you maintain your respect both with the employee you are firing and those left on the team.
It will also help you dignify the person you are laying off, and help them receive the decision easily.
