I have to terminate somebody today. Although, to be more up with the HR lingo, I actually have to "dehire" her. Oh yes. That new term is the result of a gazillion dollars spent on research about how it makes employees feel to hear the word "terminate," which became the word of choice after the batrillion dollars of research on how it makes employees feel to hear the word "fire."
HR professionals? It is not the word, ok? It is the act. The act of firing, terminating, or dehiring somebody is a negative experience that reflects on the word you assign to it – not the other way around. You could call it Calorie-Free-Cupcake-Time, you ain’t gonna change that spike in pulse and blood pressure that happens when someone hears the dreaded words. I say them at the beginning of the meeting, so the employee gets immediate release. "I’m sorry, Suze E Queue, this is a termination meeting." Then I explain why, and they don’t listen I’m sure, but at least they aren’t spending ten minutes trying to guess if this is just a warning or an actual pack-your-boxes, sweetie.
I agree with the termination, just not the timing, but what are you going to do? It’s the job. Happy Holidays, here’s your cardboard box.
Blech.
My way of doing it is "Because of XYZ Things You\’ve Done, which are against XYZ Policies, you\’re not going to be able to keep working here". That avoids the word "fired", until they say "You\’re firing me?" Then it\’s "Well, yeah." Dehiring! I\’m ready to re-bed and unwake myself, this morning.