Excellence Everywhere - National University of Ireland, Galway

n Be fair.n No surprises.Fairness dictates that lab members receive sometype of notice about unsatisfactory performance.Make sure the person knows your concerns and isgiven a reasonable opportunity to respond and turnthings around.When it Begins to Look likeFiring May Be NecessaryIn many places, an institution’s disciplinary anddismissal procedures are based on the country’slabor laws, and in some places workers are quiteaware of their labor rights. Termination proceduresmust be correctly carried out according to the law,and so should be directed by someone who hasexperience with them—usually someone in a HumanResources or other administrative office. When youbelieve that someone should be let go, consult withcolleagues to determine whether there are legalprocedures to keep in mind, and if available, seekhelp from whatever institutional office deals withpersonnel issues early on in the process, at least toadvise you on how to move forward legally. Manyacademic institutions publish their procedures ontheir Web sites.Keep in mind that delivering a warning or giving anemployee a chance to “straighten up” may helpyou turn a bad situation into a good one withoutresorting to dismissing a worker.Keep a RecordIt is a good idea to outline and set expectations forthe performance and conduct of everyone in yourlab. Do not expect your employees to read yourmind about what you want them to accomplish andhow you want them to accomplish it.Deliver a WarningWarnings should be delivered by you, calmly andin private. Listen to the employee’s point of viewand explanation. Develop a plan for addressingthe problem with benchmarks and timelines. Youmay want to commit your action plan to writing. Ifyou provide advance notice, employees will not besurprised when you take forceful action concerningunsatisfactory performance or behavior.If You Decide to TerminateAn employee with serious work-related problemsis a disruptive force and, especially in a smalllab, can significantly retard research progress.Although it is not easy to decide to terminatesomeone, those investigators who have had torelease staff say that in retrospect their biggestmistake was not doing it sooner.Questions to ask yourself before letting someonego. If circumstances permit, you should askyourself the following questions and documenteach of the actions before proceeding:n Have you given the person at least some type ofnotice or warning?n Have you made it clear to the person what he orshe is doing wrong?n Has the person received counseling or assistancein learning new or difficult tasks? If so, how much?n Are you treating (or have you treated) the persondifferently from other staff in your lab?n Are you following written procedures and institutionalpolicies?n Does the documentation in the personnel filesupport the reason for discharge?How to Terminate. Ask the appropriate individualsat your institution or department how to terminatestaff. Often, a termination will involve a meetingbetween you and the individual you are terminating.During the meeting, remember to:n Be polite.n Stay focused on the issue at hand. Get to the pointquickly. Explain the decision briefly and clearly. Donot apologize or argue with the employee in aneffort to justify your decision.n Avoid laying blame.n Arrange to have scientific materials and equipmentand supplies returned to you, including lab notebooks,protocol books (unless it is a personal copy),lists of laboratory resources and information onany experiments still in progress, and keys.n Let the employee have an opportunity to have his orher say, and pay close attention to what is being said.GETTING STARTED: Equipping Your Lab and Hiring People43