Is It My Job to Fire Employees?

Is it HR’s job to fire employees?

In most companies, the role of Human Resources staff is painted with a broad brush. Often, HR is tasked with the jobs that managers are reluctant to do—things like discipline, hiring and firing.

Many of these responsibilities belong to management, and rightly so. That is not to say that HR has no business in the decision to discipline, hire or fire; HR should assist management in these tasks, not replace them.

Consider the decision to fire someone. A human resources staffer does not have the first-hand information to make the decision independently. Direct supervisors have knowledge of an act that requires termination, or are familiar with the performance pattern that led up to the decision to fire.

Hiring falls into a similar category. A new hire does not report to HR, and often the staff only has a slight outline of the job description. Management has the most invested in any hire, so they should have the majority of the input.

HR is to provide support to the manager as they perform the key responsibilities of their jobs. They are essential in providing training to managers in proper interviewing techniques, and to give managers the tools to recruit effectively.

Susan M. Heathfield, writes about Human Resources issues for About.com:

Nothing is as confusing to many readers than the parameters and responsibilities of the role of HR staff. I receive frequent questions that tell me that the HR person’s organization thinks that she or he should fire employees, discipline employees, write employees up, and hire employees. Nothing is farther from the reality of how these employment actions should occur. These roles are not in the HR job description.

These responsibilities are in the job descriptions of managers and supervisors for many reasons. The most important reason is that the HR person wasn’t there – for any of it. She or he has only hearsay evidence about what occurred from the manager or supervisor…

Read the entire post—Is It My Job to Fire Employees?—at About.com.