Two Tough Calls. What is employment at will. Management Case Study

TWO TOUGH CALLS
Name:
Institution:
Course Code:
Date:
What is employment at will
Employment at will is defined under US laws as where the two parties (employee and employer) have got into indefinitely time bound contract on employment and the employee can quit anytime or the employer can discharge an employee at any time with or without prior notice.
Describe performance issues of Terry and Phil
Terry
* Terry did not have any technical skills and though the manager tried to help him with that, he never caught up.
* Terry was a dead weight to the team. The manager spends more time managing him and since he did not have any analytical skills, he bothered other people how to do his work which seemed to bother them.
* Terry did not have adequate knowledge on the soft goods department and efforts to bring him up to speed through extensive reading were not helping
Phil
* Phil was not also very adept with technical skills yet he was part of a team that was very technical. He was however more useful to the team than Terry.
* Phil performance went down relative to the team performance when the team was shuffled
* Sickness further deteriorated Phil’s performance which was already sub-par.
As a manager, how would I handle
Terry
First, I would give him a 2.5 review and put him on the performance improvement plan. I would also try my best to work with him to either improve to meet my team expectations or change departments and work in an area where his contribution was valuable. The reason for putting up on the PIP is that he cannot continue being a dead weight to the team. He had shown that he was not adding value rather he was a bother to the team. In my team, you earn your position by being dependable and clearly Terry was not. Since the terms of the contract were employment at will, I would put him on the performance improvement plan as the first step towards firing him. By putting him up under the performance improvement plan and eventually firing him if he did not show significant improvement, that would absolve the company of any wrongful termination suit.
Phil
I would wait for the next performance review period and still give Phil a 2.5 and place him under performance improvement plan. It has been clear that Phil’s skillset did not have a fitting position in my team. Just like Terry, the team cannot afford to be weighed down by non-performing people as that would eventually crush them. It is best that position be taken up by another competent person. Thus, a 2.5 review would be the first step towards firing Phil. On a personal level, I would accord him any help to get work in another compan...