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I just started as a leader — how long do I wait before firing people?

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Published Oct. 29, 2023, 7:47 a.m. ET
A newly hired boss wants to know how long they should wait before attempting to fix problems at the company by making changes to the staff.
A newly hired boss wants to know how long they should wait before attempting to fix problems at the company by making changes to the staff. Shutterstock

I’m a new leader at my company, and while I’ve only been in the job for three weeks, I’m already seeing what the big problems are, and how to fix them. This includes changing a lot of the talent on the team. My question is, how long should a new leader wait before making changes so that people don’t get the mistaken impression that I didn’t give anyone a chance?

It depends on the urgency of the business needs, and whether you have enough data points to form a credible position for your decision.

Some employees make it easy and work hard to prove they are keepers, or work hard to demonstrate that they are not on board.

In that case, the faster you move the better, since you need to weed out people who don’t want to be there — it’s better for everyone, and for the business.

Typically, however, it’s most credible to go on a listening tour and not make any major changes before the three-month mark, so that people do feel that you gave them a chance.

You will also feel more confident in your decision, especially if it is the same as your initial judgment.

I manage a warehouse and we have a new productivity management tool that uses AI technology to evaluate performance. If we use that to terminate the least productive employees, and those employees just so happen to be older, can I be sued for discrimination?

Hmm. A more suspicious person would wonder if you are asking because you are trying to fire older workers and wondering if hiding behind an AI tool to make that decision will inoculate you from responsibility…

Fortunately, I’m not that suspicious and assume that you are just being a thoughtful leader and are concerned about any adverse biased impact from using technology to decide who to fire.

I would be concerned about that, too.

But no, the employer blaming a discriminatory decision on the bot is not going to fly in court if challenged.

Gregory Giangrande has over 25 years of experience as a chief human resources executive. Hear Greg Wed. at 9:35 a.m. on iHeartRadio 710 WOR with Len Berman and Michael Riedel. Email: GoToGreg@NYPost.com. Follow: GoToGreg.com and on Twitter: @GregGiangrande