The Fair Firing Framework: 5 steps to fire fast and fair (without feeling like a sh*t)

It happens to us all at some point. You’ve got an underperformer on the team – often a genuinely nice, hard-working person who just isn’t delivering. They’re not malicious or lazy – they’re just not doing the job. After all, no-one wakes up in the morning and thinks: “Yup, I’m sh*t so I’d best get into the office and keep on being sh*t there too.” It just happens.

Deadlines are slipping, clients are getting p*ssed off, and the rest of your team is covering for them while you sit there agonising, “Am I being unfair, or just being a coward?”

I’ve lived this. I kept someone on for six months too long once – nice guy, tried hard, just wrong role. By the time I finally sacked up and let him go, two of my best people were burnt out from covering for him. And those two never complained. They just silently shouldered the extra work. I nearly sacrificed A-players because I couldn’t pull the trigger on a C-player.

If you’re leading a team, this is where it’s easy to lose your nerve. We tell ourselves we’re being “loyal” or kind by giving one more chance… and one more… Bollocks. Keeping a lovable underperformer around isn’t kind at all – it’s cruel to both them and the team who have to carry their weight.

Time to do something about it then. That’s where the Fair Firing Framework comes in – a simple five-step framework to know exactly when to reset expectations, when to offer support, and when to finally let someone go with fairness and dignity – without lying to yourself or screwing over your team.

Step 1: Clarify before you blame

When something breaks or a ball gets dropped, don’thead straight to blame, or start screaming “Which idiot f**ked this up?”. Instead, start by checking whether you f**ked up. Ask: Was someone clearly accountable for this task? If the answer is “not really,” then it’s nota performance issue at all, it’s a leadership failure. People can’t meet expectations you never set. Ambiguity is a leadership sin, and it breeds excuses and chaos. In fact,Gallup found the biggest factor for employee engagement is simply knowing what’s expected at work. How can anyone be accountable if they haven’t a clue what success looks like? It’s your job to make expectations crystal clear.

So before pointing fingers, look in the mirror. Did you clarify ownership of the outcome? Does everyone know who owns what? If a critical client deliverable slipped through the cracks because “I thought Louise was handling it and she thought Steve was”, that failure is on you. Fix the role clarity now. Clarify ownership, update the job role, fix the reporting lines – whatever was fuzzy, make it clear as day.

Once you do, treat it as a reset, not a reprimand. If lack of clarity was the culprit, you owe your employee an apology, not a warning. They can’t read your mind. Only once you’re sure the expectations are explicit and one person’s name is next to the task, do we get to talk about their accountability.

If, on the other hand, expectations were already crystal clear – the person knew it was their job and still messed up – then it’s on them. In which case it’s time to move to Step 2.

Step 2: The accountability conversation

Now we need an honest conversation about accountability. This isn’t a shouty reprimand or some passive-aggressive bullshit; it’s a direct, adult talk about performance. Start from a place of extreme ownership on your side: assume maybe you (or the company) still missed something. I like to open with something along the lines of:

“Look, you care about your work, and you’re trying, so I’m going to assume this miss might actually be on us as leaders. Either we didn’t set expectations clearly enough, or we didn’t give you what you needed to succeed. Let’s figure out which it is.”

When you do this, two things happen immediately.

Firstly, it drops the defensive posture. Secondly, it forces the real issue into the open, whether it’s workload, skill gaps, conflicting priorities, broken systems – whatever it might be.

If it turns out there is a legitimate issue, own it and fix it (that would send you back to Step 1: clarify and remove those roadblocks). Then it’s a clean slate and everyone moves on.

But if the miss is clearly on them, and all the conditions for success were there, then this conversation becomes strike one. Say it plainly: “Alright, now that we’re aligned on expectations, and you’ve got everything you need, we both agree this can’t happen again, right?”. Make them acknowledge it. This isn’t about telling them off; it’s about making the standard bluntly obvious: Once is a mistake; twice is a pattern.

They should leave that meeting understanding this was their one free pass. They’ve used up their Get Out of Jail card. If it happens again, we’re moving to Step 3.

Step 3: Confirm resources again

So you had the accountability chat, they promised to shape up… and then it happens again. At this point, your gut is probably screaming “Enough!” And you’re not wrong – but we’ve got one more checkpoint before we pull the emergency brake. By now, this is the second serious slip-up, so we’re at strike two. Before you escalate, do the belt-and-braces thing again: double-check resources one last time. Maybe something changed since the last talk.

But if the answer is “They had everything they needed – and they still blew it”, then stop kidding yourself. You’ve been more than fair. This is no longer about training, tools, or clarity. This is about fit. Some people just aren’t capable of the role you hired them for, or they’re in the wrong job, or their attitude isn’t matching their CV. Two strikes is enough data – time to accept reality. At this point, continuing with the status quo is not an option (remember those two burned-out top performers in my story? That’s what happens when you delay the inevitable).

So, formalise the next step. Strike two means it’s time for an official Performance Improvement Plan.

Step 4: The PIP, properly done

Ah, the Performance Improvement Plan – dreaded by employees and often misused by managers. If you’re going to do a PIP, do it right, or don’t do it at all. A real PIP isn’t punitive; it’s a crystal-clear last chance for the person to turn it around. It should lay out measurable, non-negotiable outcomes they must hit, by a firm deadline. No vague fluff like “improve communication” or “try harder” – we’re way past that. Think specific results: e.g. “Increase gross monthly sales from £50k to £80k by March 31” or “Resolve 95% of support tickets within 24 hours over the next 4 weeks.” Concrete as hell.

Also, set a tight timeline. A PIP is not an endless purgatory. Typically 30 to 90 days is plenty. Enough time to show improvement, but short enough to avoid dragging the pain out. During that period, schedule weekly check-ins to provide feedback and see if progress is happening. Everyone should know the rules of the game. Make sure they understand the stakes: Pass the PIP = maybe keep your job. Fail = you’re gone. And get their agreement on it. Both of you sign the PIP document. This formalises that they understand what’s expected and the consequences.

No surprises, no moving goalposts. It’s all in black and white. This way, everyone can agree whether the PIP was met or not – no debates. If they knock it out of the park, fantastic (it does happen occasionally – people have epiphanies when their back’s against the wall). In that case, celebrate and consider how to sustain the improvement. But let’s be real: most underperformers don’t suddenly become superstars. In all likelihood, this PIP is setting the stage for a respectful exit. And that leads us to the final step.

Step 5: Let them leave with dignity

If they’ve made it to the end of the PIP and performance still hasn’t improved, or if it’s blatantly obvious halfway through that it’s not going to happen, then stop dragging it out. It’s time to part ways. How you fire someone says a lot about you as a leader, so do it with fairness and dignity. This is a real human being with hopes, dreams, fears and responsibilities outside of work. They’re not a villain, they’re just not right for the role. Don’t humiliate them or make it personal.

Often, the best thing to do is to give them the opportunity to leave on their own terms and, if you can, offer them the same terms as if they had completed the PIP, or pay them for a notice period they do not have to work. This spares them the stigma of being fired and lets them save face. Many will take that deal (and honestly, it’s often better for everyone).

If they choose to stay and still don’t deliver, the final conversation should be short and factual. Remind them of the agreement: “We agreed on what needed to happen for you to stay in this role. It hasn’t happened. So we’re parting ways.” Full stop. No long-winded guilt trips. By this point, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone – it’s a logical conclusion of the process you’ve followed. Stick to the facts (“You needed to hit X by today, you didn’t, so this employment is over”). Thank them for their efforts, shake their hand and wish them well.

Above all, maintain their dignity. Fire them in person (or via video call if remote – never by email or text, for God’s sake). Be generous with any severance you can afford; that investment buys you goodwill and protects your reputation. Let them tell their coworkers their own version of leaving if possible (within reason). Maybe they’ll say they “decided to pursue other opportunities” – fine. You don’t need to parade their failures. Your team already knows anyway; they’ve been living it.

One quick caveat to all this is that employment law is a complex area, and you owe it to yourself and your employee to be acting entirely within the law at all times. Talk to an HR professional or lawyer before making final decisions, and make sure that there is no chance of your actions coming back to bite you on the bum further down the line.

Clarity is kindness

Fair firing isn’t fun. It’s not meant to be. But it doesn’t have to be a horror show either. By following this framework you ensure that you’ve done everything a fair, decent leader should do. You gave warnings, you gave help, and you gave final chances. When you do let someone go, you can do so with a clear conscience and the support of your team. They’ve seen you be fair; they’ve also seen you be decisive when it mattered. That’s leadership: no bullshit, no cowardice.

So look around your team. Who have you been making excuses for? You already know the one. Stop avoiding what needs to be done. Clarity is kindness, and action cures fear. Use the five steps, and get it done. Because nothing motivates great performers to leave more than watching you tolerate bad ones.

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Written by business coach and leadership coaching expert Dominic Monkhouse. You can order your free copy of his new book, Mind Your F**king Business here.