How much do you know about the employee you're firing? What if they're going through numerous hard times or have a history of misconduct? For instance, an employee may be pushed to the edge due to marital problems, prescription addictions, drugs/alcohol abuse, and many other factors. It's always good to consult with other employees of yours who you know are in contact or share a co-working space with the employee you're terminating. This helps develop a safer strategy for firing potentially violent or unstable employees.

From our experience when called upon, the usual target of a disgruntled employee is the person firing them. While some employees threaten to come back later, others may lash out immediately. It could be as simple as yelling and thrashing the office or as bad as physical assault. For instance, a manager at On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina in Duluth, GA was stabbed by a terminated employee right after firing him. The truth of the matter is, you never know for certain how an employee may react in that moment. Of course, the threat of violence is not the only problem. The fired employee may try to steal something or cause damage to the property.

The last thing an already stressed employee needs is gawkers. Terminations can be embarassing for some individuals, therefore they should be done in private. Ensure anyone who does not need to be directly involved is kept out of the way. Often times in these situations, our security officers have cleared hallways for the fired employee to leave without being gawked at and asked questions, which helps the terminated individual remain calmer.

Without anyone to escort them out, terminated employees may linger. They may take the opportunity to steal files, items, documents, delete information, or cause harm to others or vandalize the property. This is where our security officers come in handy and are trained to deal with these situations professionally and safely. Not only can they walk them out of the building, but they will ensure the employee completely leaves the premises.

Managers, business owners, and other employees have work to do. As we've stated before, hostile terminated employees will not always act on the spot when they're fired. Don't rely on yourself or other busy employees to watch out for the disgruntled employee. They can seek out revenge later. However, they are less likely to do so if they know there is a security officer on property. Security officers willl also stay on guard and keep an eye on who comes and goes on and off property.