THE NECESSARY GOODBYE

A detailed outline for thoughtful job termination.

“We are all responsible for fully showing up from day one until the very last day,” writes corporate leader and Baystate Health CEO Banko, reflecting the contention that runs throughout his nonfiction debut: The ending of a job is every bit as important and deserving of intentionality as any other part of that job. The process isn’t about heroes and villains, the author stresses; the person letting you go isn’t an enemy, and neither is the person being fired. The author cites a recent Gallup report about the huge percentage of workers who report feeling disengaged from their jobs to support his assertion that a great many people need to be fired. He goes on to describe archetypal worker types (from the Hero to the Innocent to the Rebel) who can be found in most large workplaces, and he lays out various psychologies and strategies for getting the most out of each type—and for parting ways with them. He discusses the Magician, who can be like Walt Disney or like Darth Vader, and the Jester, who seems to fill the workplace with easy fun but who may nevertheless need to be given what the author refers to as “the unceremonious old heave-ho.” Banko writes with a fluid, easily authoritative tone about some of the surprisingly intricate psychological elements at play across the spectrum of these archetypes when severing a work relationship. He consistently recommends a policy of sharp honesty; it’s almost always best to acknowledge the “sordid mess,” he writes. “Share the unvarnished information” with your team. Considering how often the firing moment is mishandled by both employers and departing workers, Banko’s empathetic advice could make a much-needed change for the better.

A wise and wide-ranging consideration of the delicacies involved in dismissing employees.