Termination Process

This situation would be influenced by legitimate power. Legitimate power is associated with having status or formal job authority (Northouse, 2016, p. 10). This power is derived from the position the person holds in the organization’s hierarchy. Another hallmark of legitimate power is that employees recognize the authority of the individual. Since you are the VP of Marketing and the Director of Customer Service reports to you, it is part of your job to break the bad news to him.

As part of the termination process, managers must also remember to share the news with the terminated employee’s co-workers. This can be a bit of a balancing act between not saying enough and saying too much. The most important point when sharing this news is to keep it brief with only ‘need to know’ details (Travis, n.d.). The longer and more emotionally involved a manager’s explanation becomes, the more the possibility exists that the employees will become confused, mixed messages will be conveyed, or an unwanted defamation lawsuit could result. It is also important to discuss the transition plan that will be implemented after the termination.

References:

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7^th ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Travis, E. (n.d.). What to Tell the Co-Workers When You Terminate an Employee. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/tell-coworkers-terminate-employee-16627.html