Boardroom boot camp: Done right, discipline and termination are not dangerous. They’re a necessity

Firing is not an act of cruelty but an act of stewardship, writes Howard Levitt. It protects culture, restores trust and reminds everyone that excellence is expected. Photo by AndreyPopov/Getty Images/Postmedia files

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Boardroom boot camp is a three-part series on solving Canada’s productivity woes, one workplace at a time. The series is not about nostalgia. It is about economic survival. To remain successful as a society, we need leaders who are fair, fearless and believe in the value of accountability, discipline and merit. Here is our second installment, on discipline.

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Every employer knows this fear. You have had more than enough of an underperforming or toxic employee. You’ve documented, coached, cajoled, but nothing changes. You know what must be done — yet you hesitate.

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Why? Because you have heard the horror stories: the human rights complaints, the social media smear campaigns, the “wrongful dismissal” claims that drag on for years. In a culture where victimhood is currency, firing someone has become, for many employers, a legal and reputational minefield.

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But here’s the truth: it does not have to be.

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The ability to terminate employment — lawfully, confidently and decently — is one of the most underused management tools in Canada today. And, paradoxically, it is also the most critical.

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When done properly, a termination does not just remove a problem employee. It sends a message to every remaining employee: standards matter.

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Most firing mistakes are not legal. They are emotional.

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Employers often fire in anger, or they delay so long their frustration festers and the final act becomes messy. Others try to disguise a firing as something else — a “mutual parting” or “performance realignment.” Employees see through the euphemisms, and judges certainly do too.

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What should be a straightforward contractual act becomes a moral melodrama.

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Then there is the documentation problem. Many employers fail to keep a record of performance issues, hoping that things will somehow improve. By the time they finally act, there’s no paper trail as evidence — only years of tolerance. The courts read that tolerance as acceptance.

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If you remain silent instead of confronting problems head-on, you are telling your workforce that bad behaviour is acceptable, even rewarded.

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Here are five steps employers should follow to ensure an effective, drama-free termination:

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