I had the pleasure of attending a panel discussion at the Inc.com GROWCO Conference on HR featuring:
Jamie Naughton – Speaker of the House at Zappos
Shawn Boyer – CEO and founder of snagajob.com
Michael Alter – CEO and founder of Surepayroll.com, Inc.com blogger
Some points from the presentation on removing poor fits from a company:
Jamie Naughton cautioned on how keeping a senior leader around has an imprint on their department which can last a very long time. One particular poor fit was let go, and two years later that person’s negative impact was felt.
I asked the panel how companies can get rid of someone based on an aberrant personality. Jamie said that it depends on the state, but “The risk associated with not letting someone go is greater than the risk of a lawsuit.” Shawn said that “Termination should never come as a surprise.” Michael said that “you can’t be afraid to fire” people.
I’ll share more from this great conference in future posts.