Keep control of the termination meeting by avoiding the following.
1. Don't engage in small talk. 2. Don't use humor 3. Don't be apologetic 4. Don't personnaly attack the employee or other employees 5. Don't defend, justify or argue 6. Don't deviate from a rehearsed script (yes, you should have a script) 7. Don't ask open ended questions 8. Don't make any promises 9. Don't talk about feelings 10.Don't sympathize
Remember to keep the meeting short and to the point.
I often tell employer's to rehearse the following prior to conducting a termination: "The decision has been made, it's not open for discussion." An employee will often want to discuss the reasons for the termination. I have seen such discussions lead to the employer agreeing to retain the employee, and sometimes at a higher wage! There is nothing to be gained by dialoging with the employee during the termination meeting.
