How to fire a staff member.

Gino J. Benedetti, JD Delivering bad news is not easy for anyone. It is natural to feel uncomfortable looking someone in the eyes and imparting news that will cause pain or anger. Yet this is an unavoidable part of taking care of patients and an unavoidable part of managing a staff. Good instincts and hiring skills, as well as a thorough understanding of your office processes and culture, will help you make solid personnel choices; however, you can never know exactly how people will perform until they begin the job. There is no magic, painless formula for firing an employee, but you can take steps that will help reduce the occurrence of this unpleasant event. When firing someone is unavoidable, having fair, consistent policies in place will minimize the disruption to your practice’s daily operations and to your staff’s morale.