When to Fire a Church Worker: 7 Questions to Ask

Here’s one of the toughest questions in church leadership: How do you know when you should fire someone.

Ugh. I just got a little sweaty even typing that.

Most of us hate conflict, love people and just wish everyone would get along so the idea of firing an employee sounds awful. But here’s what I’ve learned. Sometimes letting an employee go is the best thing for the organization and even the best thing for the employee.

So, how do you know when it’s time to actually fire someone? Here are a series of questions to help you decide.

1. WOULD YOU HIRE THIS PERSON AGAIN?

This is a question I’ve heard from several of my mentors. Knowing what you know now, if you had a time machine, would you still hire this person?

Perhaps you would answer yes because of the unbelievable strengths the person brings to the team. If this is the case, it’s not time to fire them. It’s time to support their weaknesses or shift their tasks and remove the roles they struggle with.

If your answer to this question is "absolutely not!" then I would suggest that you already have your answer and you’re probably avoiding the problem. You need to let this person go.

2. IF THIS PERSON RESIGNED, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL?

Let’s come at this from a different angle. Suppose the person in question came into your office tomorrow morning and announced that they were resigning. What would you feel in that moment?

Would you do this?

Or would you feel this?

Your answer to this scenario should give you the clarity you need to move forward. It’s either time to start the process of releasing this employee or it is time to engage the issues on a deeper level.

3. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO TEAM MORALE IF THIS PERSON LEFT?

If you announced to your team that the person in question had decided to resign, what would their reaction be? Would morale go up or down?

If you already know that the team would be relieved, then you probably need to let this person go.

4. IS THIS PERSON SLOWING DOWN THE TEAM?

How well is your team performing? When everyone on the team is contributing their best, teams are agile and fast. When one team member is underperforming, it slows down the entire team. A good question is, "Is this person slowing down the entire team?"

As you process this question, remember that high performing team members are passionate about achieving and they will only tolerate mediocrity for so long. There are times when catering to an underperforming employee can cost you a high-performing employee. That’s a steep price to pay.

5. IS THIS PERSON CAUSING DISSENSION?

Underperformance is often an issue that can be corrected through confrontation and training. Dissension is something totally different.

If you have an employee who is undermining your leadership and stirring up trouble, it is time to act. I would suggest one firm warning. Any further trouble should bring decisive action.

As a leader or manager, the best thing you can do for a person who is behaving this way is to clearly articulate why you are firing them and encourage them to correct this behavior. They probably need the wakeup call.

6. IS THIS PERSON TEACHABLE?

How does this person respond to feedback? Do they argue? Do they make up excuses? Do they blame you? These are clear signs that they lack humility. A person who constantly rejects constructive feedback will never improve. In my opinion, you cannot help an underperforming employee who refuses feedback.

On the flipside, if you have an employee who is struggling but responds well to constructive feedback, I would suggest that you should invest in this person! A teachable person can develop the needed skills. Or, perhaps there is a role that better suits them somewhere else in the organization.

A quick side note: Teachability is one of the key character traits I look for when hiring for any position. If a person is humble and teachable they will most likely make a great employee. A lack of humility is usually a sign of future trouble.

If you want to avoid this topic of when to fire an employee all together, make a determined effort to only hire people who are teachable.

7. HAVE YOU FOUGHT FOR THEM?

This last question comes from a desire I have for my own church. I want to be the kind of church where former employees, whether they worked here for 20 years or 2 months, would look back and say, "That was a place that cared about me and my future."

With that said, I think it is possible to be a church who cares and still fires employees.

This is only possible when we truly engage struggling employees and the issues. If a person is underperforming in your organization, do they know it? You must have that hard conversation. You simply cannot, in good conscience, fire a person without having this conversation.

Secondly, after having this conversation, have you given this person clear steps on how to improve? If the issue is underperformance, have you provided ways for them to be trained in the areas that are lacking? In short, have you truly fought for them?

If you haven’t, please do. We are the church. Let’s demonstrate Christ even as we walk through difficult issues with employees.

If you truly have fought for them, well, then I believe it is time to release the employee because it is the best thing for them, the organization, and you.

Deciding to let an employee go is a complex and emotional issue. It can consume your days and keep you up nights. As you wrestle with this in your own church, I hope these questions have been helpful. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.