Outsourcing Employee Terminations

[Gaurav Shah]

Many companies have started outsourcing employee termination. Is it careless?

How critical is termination for an organization? And in what way?

Have hired an agency to someone in your company? How would you feel if an outsider fires you?

If its not the best idea, why do companies take this route?

[Kelly Karius]

Companies take this route to avoid conflict and I believe that it is generally unwise. It is important, even in termination, to end a relationship in the most positive way possible, including engaging the employee in an outgoing interview. If an employee is angry, they may leave the company with ideas toward sabatoge.
I was involved in this process to some degree, just this past week. An interview process took place, with the end result being termination from the position in question. This was a little different as I was there as a facilitator, a referee, if you will, and the CEO was the one who actually did the termination. I found this to be a nice compromise. The outside source is there to assist in minimizing conflict and increasing clarification, while the company is still taking responsiblity for their actions and choices.
If the termination process is completely sourced out, upper management takes the very real chance of being seen as 'gutless'. A poor reputation for any company to develop in what can at times be a very competitive business world.
Conflict is scary for many people and often handled by being too forceful or too passive. I believe the best route is training for company people in how to ethically and assertively hire and fire, and manage conflict situations in general.