My Position was Eliminated. What Taught Me about Employment Terminations
I was packing up to leave work one evening when the phone rang. It was the VP. "Can you come to my office?"
I stopped by the Director of Finance's office on my way down the hall. "It's Tuesday at 5pm and the VP wants to see me. Am I getting fired?" She laughed. I kept walking.
I knocked. He answered. "Come in and sit down. We are eliminating your position. Your last day will be a month from today." He slid the severance papers across the desk. His voice had no emotion in it at all.
I said I had no questions (I was dumbstruck and couldn’t think), took the papers, and left. I stopped back at the Director of Finance's office. "Yep. I was laid off. I'll see you tomorrow." Then I went and had a beer with a friend, went home, and sank into my couch. Tomorrow was another day.
I spent the next week ruminating, thinking, wondering what I could have done differently. Long walks through Central Park. Early morning swims in an empty pool. Half-hearted job searching. I told myself to keep my head on straight, network, stay strong. I didn't feel any of that. My career was my identity, and it had just been handed back to me in a manila envelope.
I've thought about that VP a lot in the years since because I've been on the other side of that desk. I know what it takes to do it right, and I know what he got wrong.
The practical part: what leaders and managers need to know
Timing and setting matter more than you think. Late Friday afternoon terminations are common because managers want the weekend as a buffer. Fridays are a bad day to deliver bad news. The employee has nowhere to go, no one to call, no HR support available. If you can, do it earlier in the week and earlier in the day. Use a private space — never a glass-walled conference room, never a cubicle.
The conversation itself should be short and clear. State what's happening in the first sentence. Don't bury the news in preamble or let the person sit there wondering why they've been called in. "We are eliminating your position. Your last day is [date]" is direct. It's also more humane than a five-minute wind-up. Have the severance or separation paperwork ready. Walk through what happens next — final pay, benefits continuation, returning equipment — so the person leaves with information, not just shock.
Don't ask them to have questions immediately. I had a hundred questions. I couldn't form a single one. Give the person a name and number to call once the fog clears, and make sure HR follows up within 24-48 hours.
Document everything, and do it before the conversation. The termination decision should already be made and supported before anyone sits down in that chair. If it's performance-related, there should be a paper trail — documented conversations, Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs), prior warnings. If it's a reduction in force, have your selection criteria documented and reviewed for any disparate impact. In Montana, the Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act adds another layer: you need just cause, and you need to be able to show it.
Consider who else is in the room. Having a witness — typically HR or another manager — is standard practice and protects everyone. The witness isn't there to pile on; they're there to ensure the conversation is documented accurately and handled consistently.
Don't neglect the people who stay. After a termination, especially a layoff, the remaining staff will be watching how leadership handles it. Communicate quickly, even if you can't share everything. Silence breeds speculation. Acknowledge that it's hard. Give people a chance to ask questions in a setting where they feel safe doing so.
Check in on the person being let go. I know this sounds counterintuitive, but a brief, genuine follow-up from HR (or a manager or a colleague) a few days later — just a human check-in — matters. It mattered to me when people reached out. It costs nothing and it's the right thing to do.
I ended up in Montana, built a career I actually own, and found my footing again. Most people do. But the way a termination is handled stays with people for a long time — and it shapes how they talk about your company, whether they sue, and whether your remaining employees trust you.
The VP got the legal part right. He had paperwork, a clear date, and a witness down the hall. What he didn't have was any recognition that he was talking to a person. That gap is worth closing.
