Canadian Safety Reporter

Published 12 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. Subscription rate: $129 per year Customer Service Tel: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5106 E-mail: carswell.customerrelations @thomsonreuters.com Website: www.carswell.com One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Road Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1T 3V4 Director, Carswell Media Karen Lorimer Publisher John Hobel Managing Editor Todd Humber Contributing Editors Liz Foster (416) 298 5129 liz.foster@thomsonreuters.com Sabrina Nanji (416) 649-9348 sabrina.nanji@thomsonreuters.com Zachary Pedersen (416) 649-9584 zachary.pedersen@thomsonreuters.com Marketing Manager Mohammad Ali mm.ali@thomsonreuters.com (416) 609-5866 Circulation Co-ordinator Travis Chan travis.chan@thomsonreuters.com (416) 609-5872 Safety Reporter Canadian www.safetyreporter.com ©2014 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-7798-2810-4 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher (Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business). Canadian Safety Reporter is part of the Canadian HR Reporter group of publications: • Canadian HR Reporter — www.hrreporter.com • Canadian Occupational Safety magazine — www.cos-mag.com • Canadian Payroll Reporter — www.payroll-reporter.com • Canadian Employment Law Today — www.employmentlawtoday.com • Canadian Labour Reporter — www.labour-reporter.com See carswell.com for information CSR | May 2014 | News or away from the table quickly. Give the employee a stationary chair to avoid giving him the same advantage. Remove any unnecessary items that could be used as weapons. This includes: scis- sors, letter openers, rulers, cut- lery, extra pens or pencils. If you wouldn't be allowed to pass airport security carrying it, then remove it from the room or at least put it out of plain sight. Meetings rooms are typically almost empty and have a variety of seating options so they are ideal for termination meetings. Keep your smartphone tucked away in a pocket or portfolio and turn it to silent — you may need it but you don't want it to disrespectfully interrupt the meeting. Prepare the manager in ad- vance to communicate the craft- ed exit message to her employee simply and clearly. The manager should be prepped to avoid us- ing this as an opportunity to vent her frustrations with the employee or assuage any guilty feelings she may have regarding the exit. Discuss who will answer the employee's questions and how this will be done. Shutting the questions down completely can be counterproductive and more likely enflame an employee struggling to control his emo- tions. Put together a communica- tion plan to be certain the right people will know at the right time employment has been ter- minated for this individual. This plan should include colleagues, security and the appropriate contacts with information tech- nology. The plan will help avoid a situation where the employee is allowed back into secure ar- eas of the building and should prevent him from being able to access the organization's assets electronically. During the termination Having taken safety precau- tions, you should be able to fo- cus on the meeting and conduct it with empathy and precision. However, be alert and aware of the employee's body language and responses. As the conversation pro- gresses and the employee comes to understand the nature of the meeting he will typically dis- play emotional reactions. Good listening on your part is a basic conflict-resolution skill and can keep the conversation on track: •Pay close attention to the employee's point of view and concerns and attempt to address them with empathy. •Show the employee with your body language that you are listening. •Nod your head as he speaks. •Make eye contact frequently but not constantly. •Lean forward toward him. •Acknowledge what he is saying; paraphrase and condense what he has said and repeat it back to him and provide an opportunity for him to clarify. If the necessary informa- tion has been communicated and the employee appears to be calm, end the conversation as quickly as possible and bring in the outplacement consultant. The employee's manager can go back to the employee's desk to collect any personal belongings he will need to get home (such as keys, a purse, shoes and a coat.) The rest of his belongings can be couriered to his home or picked up later. Collect keys, security cards, smartphones and any other or- ganization assets from him. Try to avoid the employee going back to his desk to collect be- longings — if the outplacement consultant is there, she may help reason with the employee. Often, the employee will re- turn to the workplace before normal working hours or after normal working hours to pack up his belongings, accompanied by either his former manager or representative from HR. If you follow this approach, take precautions by informing security of the visit and ask that another member of the HR team be present with you. After the meeting has taken place and the employee has his necessary belongings, have the outplacement consultant escort the employee from the building and straight into a taxi home — if possible. Obtain a taxi chit for the de- parting employee. Not only is this a humane gesture to avoid the employee having to stand around in public waiting for transit or having to drive in an emotional state, it ensures the employee leaves the business lo- cation sooner than later. After the meeting When all else has been done, ensure execution of the commu- nication plan and document any notable aspects of the meeting, particularly if there was any con- flict or aggression. Remember to stay alert when entering and leaving the build- ing at work. Remember to look after your- self and find a way to release the tension and emotion you will have felt during the termination. Remember that you are an em- ployee too and employee assis- tance program (EAP) counsel- lors are available any time if you need to talk. Lauren Chesney is an HR manager at OMERS (Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System) in Toronto. She can be reached at lchesney@omers.com or linke- din.com/in/laurenchesney. Ron Chesney is a former chief inspector, Criminal Investigation Department with Strathclyde Police, Scotland, also assisted with this article. He is a trained hostage negotiator, former lecturer at Tulliallan Police College and personal safety trainer. He is also Lauren's father. Prepare manager with crafted exit message SAFE TERMINATIONS < pg. 2 IF THE NECESSARY INFORMATION HAS BEEN COMMUNICATED AND THE EMPLOYEE IS CALM, END THE CONVERSATION AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.

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