How do I let go of a loyal employee the business has outgrown?

Almost every company has a golden retriever employee: happy, loyal, lovable, and often with you for years. The business has outgrown them, and all your training and encouragement has not changed that.

One sign you have one: they have moved around a lot. Owners rarely let a golden retriever go. They move them, hoping the next role will be a better fit. If someone you are fond of has held several different jobs in your company and none has quite worked, you may be looking at your golden retriever.

This is the hardest people decision an owner makes, because nobody did anything wrong. The job simply got bigger than the person in it.

Three questions that make the decision clearer

1. Who is doing the part of the job they cannot do? Someone is. Usually it is you, or your best performer. That person is paying for your loyalty, and they notice.
2. Have I told them the truth, plainly? Encouragement is not the same as telling someone their job is at risk. If they would be shocked to hear it, you are not ready to decide yet. Tell them first, in writing, and give it a real deadline.
3. Is there a real job here they can do well? Not one you invent to avoid the conversation. If you have already moved them once or twice and it has not worked, another move only delays the decision.

If the honest answers are "someone else," "yes," and "no," you already know.

How to do it without breaking your heart

It will hurt anyway. It should. That is what it costs to care about the people who work for you.

What you control is how it is done. Tell them yourself. Be generous with notice, pay and a reference where you can. Thank them for what they built with you. Let them leave with their dignity, and tell the team the truth about how much they mattered.

One caution. Long-tenured employees are often over 40, and federal law forbids age discrimination against people 40 or older at employers with 20 or more employees (EEOC). Many states cover smaller employers too. Make sure your file shows what the job requires now and the chances you gave. Kindness and documentation are not opposites.

And do not call it a layoff to soften the blow. If you "lay off" your golden retriever and then quickly move someone else into their spot, the job was never eliminated. That can look like age discrimination. A real layoff needs a strong business case behind it, and that is a topic for another day.

If you have a golden retriever and you have been putting this off, call or text me. This is a conversation worth planning before you have it.

Sources

• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Age Discrimination

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