Hiring and firing and the art of decisive management

The Lynchpin: A masterclass for garment decorators #7

Acting decisively when firing staff helps to keep your business healthy and your team motivated. John Lynch explains all

Brian Tracy, the Canadian sales guru behind High Performance Selling, has a famous line I’ve never forgotten: “When is the best time to fire an employee? The first time the thought crosses your mind.”

It’s brutally honest, but it contains a truth every business owner eventually learns. Firing is one of the hardest responsibilities in management, yet one of the most essential. And in small and medium-sized companies, where every single person matters, keeping the wrong employee is not just a financial risk – it’s a cultural one.

The real cost of not firing

Improper firing practices demotivate your good people. They allow weak performers to drain energy and morale. They slow your growth, frustrate your team, and create workarounds that cost you money.

And here’s a simple test: Can you recall a time you fired someone too soon?  Of course not. But you can probably think of several people you kept far too long. I know I can. After firing dozens over the years, my only regret has been waiting too long.

Jack Welch of General Electric took this to an extreme, famously removing the bottom 10% of performers annually. You don’t need to go that far, but the principle behind it is sound: great organisations cannot be built on mediocre performance.

Hire right to fire less

If firing gives you a stomach ache, here’s the best prevention: hire better.

Most firing decisions can be traced back to a weak hiring process. Nine times out of 10, the problem reveals itself in one of three areas:

• Performance They simply cannot do the job.
• Attitude Negative behaviour that poisons the team.
• Cultural Fit Good skills, wrong company.

If you consistently struggle in one of these areas, strengthen your hiring process. Better interviewing, reference checks, basic skills tests, trial assignments – whatever it takes. Every hour you invest in hiring saves 10 hours later in management headaches.

Monitor performance from day one

A new employee’s habits are formed immediately. If they’re late in week one, speak to them. If performance is unclear, clarify targets.

Your goal isn’t to fire quickly, it’s to give them every fair chance to succeed. Clear KPIs (key performance indicators) and clear expectations turn uncertainty into accountability. And when someone can be saved, these conversations make all the difference.

Firing sooner, not later

When you know… you know.

Dragging out the process does not help anyone – not you, not the team, and not the struggling employee.

In one case at Lynka, we kept a non-performing sales rep for almost a year. When we finally let them go, employees throughout the company came to us and said, “We thought you’d never fire them.” Good people want to work with good people. They suffer most when you delay.

And here’s a rule that has never failed me: if someone lies on their CV or demonstrates dishonesty, end it immediately. Skills can be taught. Integrity cannot.

Always fire with dignity

Being fired is traumatic. At Lynka, we insist on doing it respectfully. Be direct but kind. Preserve dignity. Honour the contract. Never humiliate.

The world is small. Your reputation is everything. Fire fairly, and you avoid creating enemies – and rumours – that damage your culture.

Brian Tracy’s additional wisdom

Tracy adds three excellent principles:

• Act immediately once you have made the decision.
• Don’t keep ‘anchors’, ie those employees who resist change and drag the team down.
• If an anchor resigns, don’t chase them. Their departure is a gift.

Diagnose what went wrong

Always review the root cause afterward. Was the training insufficient? Were expectations unclear? Was the hire simply wrong from the start?

You learn more from one bad hire than from ten good ones – if you examine it honestly.

Final word

Firing isn’t fun. But neither is running an unproductive team or a struggling company. Your competitors will happily take advantage of your hesitation.

So, be fair. Be professional. But be decisive.

Fire soon. Fire respectfully. And never regret removing the wrong person from your business.