Employee looking for a job
Ronda in CO
6 Posts
I have a situation where I know one of our employees is looking for a new job. I would like to replace, then terminate ASAP. What would you do?
Comments
Now, do not hire and then fire, for the fact that someone is looking for a better opportunity is not sufficient reason to terminate one's employee; however, if you are in an "AT WILL" state you may fire for some reason or no reason, one must simply be ready to justify and defend one's action when put to the test by unemployment or EEOC.
As HR, I assume you are in or the HR manager, you should not ever do the firing, unless the person is a member of your team. Otherwise, firing should be left to the actions of the concerned manager/supervisor.
Hope this helps, keep us posted and we will be watching this thread in its development. Again welcome aboard and may you have a Blessed day and week!
PORK
And firing him/her would send a bad message to other employees -- that they should keep their job hunt secret and give you very short notice or else you'll fire them.
Welcome to the Forum, Ronda.
James Sokolowski
HRhero.com
In 50% of the cases, the associate ends up staying having found the grass isn't greener. In the other cases, it makes their life and ours easier as we don't worry about someone calling in sick when they have a job interview.
The other part of this "we-should-fire-him-now-because-he's-looking" approach is when companies want a notice of resignation 10 days or 2 weeks in advance and when an employee does give such notice, they immediately fire the employee. No wonder many companies get rotten names and their management is seen as punitive.
I agree with the others, especially with mbeam's compny's approach. And welcome aboard.
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DJ The Balloonman
When one wants to better themselves, it is time for encouragement not criticism. You never know. Down the road a bit, this guy just might come back to your company wiser and more creative and prolific.
One of the ways we have improved morale over the last couple of years is by acknolwedging these kinds of transitions as part of the normal employment relationship. This means that we react calmly and with poise in the face of the news that someone is moving on to another opportunity (or is considering that possibility) whether they are someone we truly value, or someone we might not miss as much as they assume will be the case.
The results have been tremendous. Members of our staff have been more relaxed, patient, and ready to pick up additional work during staffing transitions. Departing employees have been more flexible and open to working out lengthier notice periods or alternate schedules that allow us more time to find just the right person to step in to the position (we haven't had anyone give only two weeks and then leave in more than a year).
New employees have also reaped the rewards of this adult approach to the employment relationship because there isn't tension and concern in the office about what was underneath an employment decision made by employees or the organization.
Maybe most importantly, we've found that this completely takes the wind out of the sails of folks who expect to get a good jab in by leaving, and we have far fewer folks here (if any) that thrive on that kind of tension. Seems that there is nothing more frustrating to someone looking to make waves, than being encouraged to go ahead and do what they need to do personally and professionally. In more than once case recently we've had employees confronted by our willingness to move on without them, ask how to rescind their resignation because they've changed their mind about leaving our employ as a solution to all their problems.
I would encourage any company to try this method and see how it works out both short and long-term. We couldn't be happier.