I haven't seen the video, and doubt I will watch it. But based on this article, I'll say this:
I could not agree more with this sentiment:
No employee should ever actually be surprised they weren’t performing.”.
If you're firing somebody and they are surprised to find out that they were considered under-performing, then the fault is 100% with their manager. You can't expect people to be mind-readers. If you want somebody to do something, you absolutely have to tell them so. And when I say tell I mean really, honestly, tell them. No wishy-washy language, no weasel words, no bullshit. Just tell them (being polite and respectful of course). Something like "Foo, I was expecting you to do one hundred frizgibbits a month, and since you've been here you've been averaging 35. I really need you to step it up. What can I do to help?"
That last part is important. And you need to actually listen. Maybe the problem is training. Maybe the person needs some sort of accommodation related to a minor medical issue. Maybe there is another co-worker who's being a blocker. Who knows? The point is, criticize, sure. But also make an honest effort to help the employee get to where they need to be. If you do that and they don't perform, then sure. Then the firing conversation should involve no (or little) element of surprise:
"Foo, I asked you to up your output six months ago, and get closer to the one hundred frizgibbits a month milestone, and while you have gotten better, you're still 40% short of expectations (as we discussed last month). At this point I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go and look for someone else."
or something to that effect.
That said, even in that case, nothing says you have to immediately resort to firing somebody. As the old saying goes "don't fire them, fire them up." Maybe what gets them fired up is a lateral shift to a different position in the company that better suits them? Or changing to different working hours, or <whatever>. I personally advocate for trying very hard to avoid firing people, unless it's something like "stealing from the company" or "snorting cocaine while on duty (as an air traffic controller)" or something of that ilk.
It's even worse. From one of the other articles posted:
>She added that her manager was unaware she was being fired and “called me afterward and told me he was sick to his stomach and couldn’t believe this was happening.”
Not only was she surprised, her MANAGER was surprised.
I could not agree more with this sentiment:
No employee should ever actually be surprised they weren’t performing.”.
If you're firing somebody and they are surprised to find out that they were considered under-performing, then the fault is 100% with their manager. You can't expect people to be mind-readers. If you want somebody to do something, you absolutely have to tell them so. And when I say tell I mean really, honestly, tell them. No wishy-washy language, no weasel words, no bullshit. Just tell them (being polite and respectful of course). Something like "Foo, I was expecting you to do one hundred frizgibbits a month, and since you've been here you've been averaging 35. I really need you to step it up. What can I do to help?"
That last part is important. And you need to actually listen. Maybe the problem is training. Maybe the person needs some sort of accommodation related to a minor medical issue. Maybe there is another co-worker who's being a blocker. Who knows? The point is, criticize, sure. But also make an honest effort to help the employee get to where they need to be. If you do that and they don't perform, then sure. Then the firing conversation should involve no (or little) element of surprise:
"Foo, I asked you to up your output six months ago, and get closer to the one hundred frizgibbits a month milestone, and while you have gotten better, you're still 40% short of expectations (as we discussed last month). At this point I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go and look for someone else."
or something to that effect.
That said, even in that case, nothing says you have to immediately resort to firing somebody. As the old saying goes "don't fire them, fire them up." Maybe what gets them fired up is a lateral shift to a different position in the company that better suits them? Or changing to different working hours, or <whatever>. I personally advocate for trying very hard to avoid firing people, unless it's something like "stealing from the company" or "snorting cocaine while on duty (as an air traffic controller)" or something of that ilk.