By Jane Garthson, Garthson Leadership Centre
January 4, 2010
The dilemma:
When I took a new executive director job, I inherited an employee who maintains our online presence, part-time, and has done so for many years. She works virtually (from hundreds of miles away), has no phone and doesn’t answer my email questions about her work time, project status, or objectives. In my opinion, her work is substandard, her output quite inadequate, and her understanding of the organization’s needs totally outdated. I can’t continue like this, but can I ethically fire by email? I have no other contact info.
Jane's Response:
You are in a difficult situation. We all like to give people a chance to understand the purpose of their roles, the expectations held of them, and the resources, such as time, that they have to achieve those expectations. Firing any employee, even such an unknown one as this, seems wrong if the employee has no opportunity to improve. And terminating people by email is perceived as a very negative and inhumane thing to do.
Think things through
First, step back and consider what the best possible outcome would be. Do you want to rehabilitate this situation? If so, you need a new agreement on expectations, a commitment to meeting those and to having ongoing dialogue, and an understanding of the consequences of not achieving objectives. It would be a very different conversation, if, for example, you preferred to bring the work into the office, and saw the best outcome as an amicable parting with managed risks.
Now, think the possible outcomes through again from her perspective, based on what you know about this employee. Is this part-time work perhaps a burden, interfering with work, education, and family commitments, and just being performed out of a sense of duty? Or is it essential income, perhaps for a person with severe disabilities for whom only virtual work is possible? Or something else entirely? If you don’t know, are there other employees or volunteers who know her better? From this reflection, what do you think her highest potential outcome would be?
Consider risk management
Now that you have imagined best possible outcomes, put on your risk management hat and identify the worst possible outcomes. Figure out how to mitigate the risks. For example, do you have a secure back-up of all the website data, including the overall design/layout/index, etc.? Do you have administrator passwords for any online site she administers on your behalf, such as a Facebook page? Do you have the ability to cancel her access, and to reroute queries made to the administrator or webmaster to your office? You need to protect your online data and reputation as a critical asset. Get your most technical staff member on this as soon as possible.
Separately, as with any contentious human resource matter, you need to protect the organization from lawsuits as much as you reasonably can, and have a good defense if sued. If you don’t already have a hard copy file of all attempts to communicate, assign tasks, convey expectations, provide feedback, etc., make one up now, and keep it up to date. Include any replies, including non-replies such as emails that deal with tasks only and not the questions asked. If you have access to a lawyer who handles HR work, alert him or her to the situation; I cannot give you legal advice.
Clear communication is key
Next, I suggest finding out what form of communication she finds most comfortable. Is she active in social media sites? Perhaps has a Skype account? Instant messaging? Would she be willing to meet with a volunteer local to her, so there could be in-person contact for a three-way conversation? If you don’t know, your next email could focus on the importance of having a conversation, and finding out how she’d like to conduct it.
By the way, I suggest reviewing your recent emails to her. Do they invite her to be part of a dialogue, or are they just directive? Are they oriented to finding a solution, or to ending the situation? Are they pleasant or angry? Are they ambiguous, especially for someone who has never met you? Could she reasonably have misunderstood them? Consider getting someone else to read them and tell you their reaction. Perhaps that person can also help you draft the next emails, when you outline options and timelines for communicating, and, at some point, the consequences of not communicating.
If you cannot confirm that your emails are even being read, you may wish to send a formal, registered letter, to whatever address you have for income tax forms and the like, noting the importance of communicating back to you within some deadline. You may need two or three such letters, including any letter of termination, of course. There is no need to do that by email. If you do not have the address in your files, whoever handles your payroll must, and that information belongs to your organization, not to the third party service provider. As the senior staff officer with an organizational need to communicate, you have access; this is not an issue of personal privacy. You can also provide it to your lawyer under solicitor/client privilege, as I understand it; again, this is not legal advice.
In summary, I suggest you:
- imagine the best possible outcomes for both the organization and the employee, and what conditions and changes could achieve the best possible overall outcome(s);
- urgently identify and manage the significant risks;
- do your very best to open up the lines of communication and achieve the best possible overall outcome;
- monitor the situation closely if the employee agrees to improve, and maintain the documentation in hard copy form; and
- handle the termination as humanely as you can if and when that becomes the best possible outcome for the organization.
Thank you for trying to find an ethical solution to the situation.
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