You have an employee that you have known for a long time that isn’t getting the job done and you need to fire them. In fact, you should have done it a long time ago. This is always a difficult thing to do but do you let them go before or after the holiday?
This is a seasonal quandary that many well-meaning small business owners have faced over the years. Here are the arguments for before and after:
After the holiday:
Come on….it’s the holiday season. It’s a time of year where everyone is supposed to be happy. You should not be the one to “bring your employee down” no matter how bad a performer they are. Let them have a fun holiday with their family and friends … and you can tell them about the bad news in January. Don’t be a “scrooge” and ruin the holiday for them!
Before the holiday:
You are going to fire them soon so do it now, so they don’t spend all this money over the holiday only to find out in January they don’t have a job and therefore no way to pay the credit card bills from all the purchases they made. What’s more, it allows them to grieve during the holidays with the support of their family and get a fresh start in the new year. Plus, doing it now also sends a signal to the rest of your team that things will be different in the new year and they can get off to a better start.
The choice is yours. What will you do?
Case in point: I remember 30 years ago; my spouse was let go (for downsizing purposes) on January 2nd. Her vote is to fire the person before the holiday so she could prepare for a fresh start in the new year.
