DISMISSAL
	See also: How to Fire Compassionately
	Dismissal is a grave issue. It can destroy people. The Boss will exercise extreme caution before any dismissal decision is made. He will ensure that all the proper warning procedures have been followed and that the person has had angle opportunity to improve. He will give him or her the chance to speak up and have his or her interests properly represented. Above all the Boss will be rigorous in ensuring that dismissal is fair and is handled in such a way that it preserves the person's dignity and minimizes loss of face. He'll be thoroughly compassionate in his approach, knowing that back home families will weep and children retreat into a silence of insecurity and incomprehensibility. Dismissal brings hardship and agony, and what is more it is often unnecessary, if not unfair. As a process of social rejection dismissal frequently destroys the last vestiges of inner confidence, dignity and pride a person might have. The Boss will try his utmost to avoid dismissal. But he will dismiss. He will dismiss those who thieve, who are violent, who abuse the company (and thus its people). He will dismiss those who continually fail to perform despite a thousand opportunities to improve. He will dismiss when there is no job to be done. But always, he will search for a way out, a way to avoid the dismissal. It might mean demotion, or transfer to another department. The Boss knows that when the company hires people it makes a commitment to them. He will do his utmost to honor that commitment. Dismissal is a failure of that commitment, on both sides. The Boss will not tolerate hire-and-fire managers in his team, nor will he tolerate managers who do not confront potential dismissal situations.
	ACTION TODAY
	Make a mental note. Next time you are faced with a potential dismissal situation don't avoid the issue, but try to avoid the dismissal. Remind yourself that, whoever the person, he or she is a human being with a family and a face to maintain. So sit back, give the issue a little more time, think extremely carefully about it. But in the end you must decide. If the answer is dismissal, be scrupulous in handling it with dignity and compassion.
	REMEMBER
	For the Boss, dismissal is a last and sorrowful resort.