We climbed up into a whiteout today.
It was too cold and windy to take a pic.
The day started out nice at the trailhead.
I even recorded a 10 minute long video about how to effectively manage a team of workers in the Philippines (coming soon).
3.5 miles in we got to an old mine.
But the higher we went the stronger the wind blew and the more it snowed.
To the point where something was telling me “Turn around!”
Maybe it was the mountains yelling.
Maybe it was fear.
Sometimes with your Filipino workers something tells you to “Turn Around!”
Maybe it’s red flags.
Maybe it’s a gut feeling.
Maybe things aren’t going right.
Maybe they’re doing things wrong time after time after time.
Whatever it is, sometimes it’s ok to part ways.
Here are some tips.
1. Try to make it work out. If you did a good job recruiting, you don’t want to fire a good recruit when you could solve the problem.
2. Recognize they’re probably frustrated too.
3. If they haven’t been with you long (< 3 months) It’s probably fine to say “Hey, this just isn’t working out. I’ll pay you for the work you’ve done, but this is a 2 week notice.”
Or
“Hey, this isn’t working out. I’ll pay you for the next 2 weeks, but you don’t need to continue to work. Use the next 2 weeks to find another job.”
4. If they’ve been with you a while (6+ months) consider some sort of severance.
Chances aren’t high they’ll try to hurt you unless you don’t pay them.
Also, your portion of the 13th month is still a good idea to pay.
The last time we let someone go we said:
“Hey, this isn’t working out. Both of us are frustrated with each other.
I’d like you to finish up the task you’re working on, but then you can be done working.
We’ll pay you for the next 30 days and we’ll pay what we owe you for the 13th month.
Use the next 30 days to try and find another job.”
It’s never fun letting someone go, but sometimes…
John