Please do not do this. Do it early in the day. Nothing worse that getting shitcanned in the afternoon (when you know they knew all day).
Also, Friday is bad because they can’t do very much about the problem until Monday (apply for EI, figure out their accounts at the bank, yadda yadda). There is also a study that says suicide rates are higher for Fridays but I can’t find a linky.
I’d worry more about the employees that you have left behind and their morale then the slacker you’re firing. Terminations can make everyone else insecure about their jobs, especially if the fired person is well-liked and their poor performance doesn’t directly impact the other employees. It’s one thing if, when errors are made, everyone has to do extra work to compensate - then they grow irritated with the poor performer and are glad to see them gone. But if it happens in a vacuum, say the wrong part number is entered, the wrong widget ships, but the fellow order-takers don’t see the fallout with angry customers, customer service having to correct the error, and returns being processed. They just see friendly Jane Doe, who always has a smile on her face and brings in tomatoes from her garden, suddenly gone, and they wonder if they’re next.
StG
I think it’s flatlined who talks about a waste of skin employee at her workplace who isn’t getting replaced (Shredder Guy) in spite of desperately needing to be replaced - don’t let this employee become Shredder Guy. 
Do you have any idea why she doesn’t use the strategy to prevent the errors? Does she just want to wing it, or does she think she knows better, or does she not care if she makes errors, or is she just truly incapable of doing this job? I guess it doesn’t really matter because you end up in the same place, but I’m curious.
Do what madmonk28 has outlined for you, tomorrow is even a Friday. Do it now and get her out. I guarantee that she is not much loved by every other employee. Some, if not many, are wondering why sucky employee gets some much rope. And they do know she sucks, yes they do.
I can understand an inability to do a job, what I can’t stand is an unwillingness to try and do better. That is what you have on your hands. Get her gone and get somebody who will at least try.
Yes you will look horrible. Especially since apparently her incompetence is well hidden. That’s why managers get paid the big bucks (and why I don’t manage people, just stuff). And you will feel horrible. And there isn’t any way to make this easier on you or on her other than “don’t be a jerk.”
Its ok to let her go (in person, but I’m not sure Friday afternoon is better or worse than any other time). Its ok to then shut yourself in your office with a big box of chocolate and a box of tissue. Or go for a walk. Its OK to let the other employees grieve and be a little mad at you - and since you can’t explain, they will be. You’ll just need to say “I’m not really at liberty to say anything.” (It might not be a bad idea to then INFER that the quality processes she wasn’t doing were a problem by scheduling some process review training. I remember when someone got canned for sexual harassment and they couldn’t tell us anything, but the moment the training notice came out, it was confirmation of the suspicion.)
By the way, you might be surprised to discover that she doesn’t mind too much. We let a 60 year old lady go in our last round of layoffs. I went to say goodbye with “I’m so sorry…” She said “I’m not, I wanted to quit to do daycare for my grandkids for the past year, but my husband wouldn’t let me!”
Not that moejoe needs to worry about her killing herself…he he.
[sub]perfectparanoia, what are doing??? shhhhhhhh[/sub]
Does your company have a probation policy or temporary suspension?
We give written warnings that the employee signs and it goes in the HR file. Three warnings in a years time and you’re gone. Basically they are on probation after the second warning.
If they start getting warnings again in another year the department can terminate. There’s no obligation to wait until three warnings all over again. That’s up to the dept head.
Not sure how big your group is, but in the past when I’ve had co-workers that have been let go, the manager has gathered everybody together to let them know that the person had been let go and that you weren’t at liberty to talk about the decision. I’m sure others will have better advice on how to handle this but I do think it’s important to share the information with your group directly, and immediately, and not let gossip take hold. They’ll still gossip, but at least you can try and tamp it down a bit.
My advice - before you fire her, make certain that she is well aware of the specific deficiencies that you, or management, wants to fire her over. Don’t just give her vague “You need to try harder” or “You need to improve your performance” - give her concrete examples. E.g. “Last Monday, you were supposed to enter the data from the monthly bank statement into the system, run a reconciliation report, and fax a hard copy of the report to Corporate in New York by 5 PM. You entered the bank data wrong by transposing debits and credits and omitting the Capital Expenditures section, and Corporate did not receive the fax until 7 PM.” Tell her what, specifically, she can do (other than “try harder”) to perform acceptably.
Yeah, human feelings have no place in a corporation. That’s why corporations aren’t legally peop … er, wait a minute …
I think firing on Fridays makes sense because it gives everyone time to cool down before the place is open again on Monday and your other colleagues who might be upset by the firing have time to reflect. Also it means you don’t have to come back to the office the next day, it sucks firing someone.
If you feel that the person is deserving of a break and is smart enough to take the opportunity, you can allow her to resign effective immediately rather than be fired. That will probably negatively affect her ability to file for unemployment, but it looks better on her resume.
Well, there’s an interesting thought. Give her for another year, then if no improvement fire her, let her go on unemployment and then go on Social Security. You don’t ruin her life, it sounds like your staff is doing a fine job of carrying her, and maybe in a year’s time she’ll figure out she needs to improve and how to do it. Maybe implement the PiP mentioned backthread.
Maybe this is a training issue? I don’t know your specific situation. But extra training sometimes helps in these cases.
You can’t train a brick wall. The OP has already described multiple attempts:
You aren’t firing her.
You are hiring someone out there who really needs a job in this tough economy. Poor performance is often symptomatic of people who don’t like or want the job they have. Feel not guilt and rip her away like a band-aid. Giving another complicated series of warnings and waiting for a miracle doesn’t sound likely to improve the situation.
Do it Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, either mid-morning or mid-afternoon, so that they don’t get stuck in rush hour traffic. Have a witness, hard copies of severance and COBRA information, and a box of tissues. If you don’t have an office, book a small conference room.
Save an empty box somewhere handy.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that this position is not a good fit for you, so I’m letting you go. Here is your severance and COBRA information. Do you need a few minutes?”
…
“OK, let’s go clean out your desk.”
That’s it. No more, no less.
I had to do this a couple of days ago, for a nearly identical situation (older, nice, barely competent employee with a history of negative reviews.) Believe me, the sturm und drang over making the decision is worse than actually doing it.
And I’m going to have to advise against giving her more time. You’ve already documented multiple instances of incompetence. You’ve provided her with specific, measurable, and achievable steps to improve her performance, and she hasn’t taken them.
Letting her continue to twist in the wind may very well piss off the members of her team who actually bring value to the organization, and will probably make you look bad to your superiors.
You have nothing to gain by letting her stay on.
I most politely disagree. Do terminate on a Friday. It doesn’t have to be an afternoon, though. There are several good reasons for this:
Cool Off Period. The former employee has the weekend to cool off, and consider a plan of action for the coming week. Addditionally their friends and family are more likely to be available for support on the weekend. Finally, Employment Insurance will take a wek or two minimum, so an extra week end in there is not going to affect things too greatly. They will have their severance, holiday pay and outstanding wages anyway.
The other employees will have less chance and motivation to be upset, gossip, speculate or otherwise engage in demotivational activities resulting from the action.
Monday will be a fresh slate for you, your other staff and even the terminated employee. Firing during the rest week taints the whole week.
I would only add that you might want to have an HR rep in the room with you when you terminate the employee. That way, they can either give her paperwork to sign right then, or take her to HR after you’re done with her, and take her back to clean out personal effects. Set this whole procedure up with them in advance.
Also, I would set up the termination of access to your network to coincide with the firing meeting. That prevents any dumping of files, emails, etc. after the meeting.
Clearly, you need to call in NORM PETERSON. Bwahahahaha.