Should A Christian Business Terminate Employees?

In a previous post, 10 Pitfalls To Running A Christian Business, I included the fact that “People think a Christian business does not terminate people” as one of the pitfalls. What do you think? Should a business that professes to be run according to Christian principles terminate employees?

Is It Wrong To Terminate?

Many people associate Christianity with always being nice and kind, turning the other cheek, and overall just being weak. Or they believe that a Christian should never “wrong” anyone else…and they consider any sort of termination to be wronging the employee. The problem is that this does not match up with what the Bible teaches.

First of all, there are obviously many reasons for an employee to be terminated. I would say that most reasons could be divided into three categories…

1. Violating company policy
2. Layoff
3. Lack of Performance

The first two reasons are usually self-explanatory. For the sake of this discussion, I will stick to number three. It is usually for terminations in this category that people think a Christian company is wrong.

The Bible

As I have said before, the first place I believe we should turn is to the Bible. When it comes to performance vs. expectations, the Bible does not have a chapter on employee decisions. However, when we look at some of Jesus’ teachings, we can clearly see that He holds people accountable. Let’s take the Parable of the Talents for example. I won’t include the entire passage here, but you can read it on your own (Matthew 25:14-30).

In this parable, the master clearly had expectations for the performance of the servants while he was gone. It is also clear from verses 21 and 23 that the master was pleased with the performance of the first two servants. Note that their performance was not necessarily equal, but their praise was the same. Obviously the master’s expectations were different based on the amounts with which they started.

As for the third servant, the master was displeased. As a result of the failure to meet the master’s expectations, the third servant was cast out. Was that fair? Did you expect the master to thank him for his lack of performance and invite him to the same party as the other two servants?

Performance vs. Expectations

Please know, I am not a Bible scholar and I do not pretend to know all of the lessons that can be pulled from this passage. At the same time, I do see very clearly that Jesus is painting a picture of performance versus expectations. I believe, based on the pattern, if the third servant had only added one more talent, that the master would have praised him on par with the other two. But that is not what happened.

So how do we translate this lesson into our businesses? First, I believe there are some actions that must be taken before deciding to terminate an employee. Here is a list of prerequisites that should be met before dismissing an employee (taken from Business By The Book by Larry Burkett)

• Clear job description

• Clear set of standards for performance

• Clear communication of expectations

• Clear, quick, and written/verbal communication of lack of performance

• Trial correction period

When Do You Terminate?

If these requirements have been met and the employee continues to fall short of expectations, the decision to terminate (with dignity!) is certainly an option. Of course, I would first recommend taking a hard look at the employee to make sure they are not just in the wrong job.

I have moved people out of positions where their performance was far short of expectations, only to place them in a completely different position and see them soar! However, if you have prayerfully considered this option without seeing a solution, termination is warranted.

I will touch more later on what you can do as a Christian business during and after the decision to terminate to show the love of Christ, but for now, I want to leave you with one more thought.

Our Accountability

Just as our employees should be held accountable for their performance, how do you think you as a business owner will be held accountable for your performance at the end of your life?

Do you believe Jesus will stand there and quiz you on your gross sales revenue for the last ten years? Will he ask for your net profit as a percent of sales? What about number of employees or locations?

I, for one, think His line of questioning will be different. Read my post Reason #3 To Run Your Business According To Your Christian Faith for more thoughts on this question.

Do you struggle with the decision to terminate employees?

Have you worked to set clear expectations for every employee?

What do you need to do differently?

[Original date of post: October 12, 2011]