The Five-Stage Response Model

Generally, people take bad news in five stages. Understanding how the terminated employee might be feeling is essential if you want to help him or her move through these stages and deal with the termination.

Stage 1: Shock. The first reaction that people often experience when informed that they are being terminated is shock. Being fired might come as a total surprise. Perhaps the individual is not truly aware of just how poor his or her performance was or how serious the situation. Whatever the reason, hearing the news will be upsetting. Be prepared for this reaction. The person might cry or become highly emotional, so allow the person a few moments to just deal with these emotions before proceeding with the termination discussion.

Stage 2: Anger. The next reaction is often one of anger; the employee might get angry that this is happening to him or her and might even direct that anger toward you. Regardless of the employee’s reaction or behavior, you must remain professional. It would not be appropriate for you to respond in a similar angry manner, because this will only make the situation worse and likely cause the terminated employee to be even more difficult to deal with during this meeting. Your goal at this point should be to help the terminated employee work through his or her emotion and focus on what is going to happen next in the termination process.

Stage 3: Rejection. The terminated employee might argue the validity or fairness of the termination and reject or deny the fact that this is something that should be happening to him or her. The employee might be hoping that this is some kind of mistake that will be corrected, so assure him or her that the termination is really happening and that there is no going back on the decision.

Stage 4: Acceptance. Like it or not, eventually the employee is going to have to accept the fact that he or she no longer has a job. Once the person has reached this stage in the process, he or she can begin to deal with the reality of the situation and move on with his or her life. This is the time when the employee will be most receptive to hearing about what will happen next in the termination process. Understand that while the employee was dealing with the various previous emotions, he or she probably wasn’t able to focus entirely on this important information. It is not until the individual finally reaches this acceptance that he or she can really focus on what is going to happen next. Any decisions needed to be made as a terminated employee can now be made.

Stage 5: Help. The last stage in the model is help. At this point, the terminated employee is most receptive to any help or assistance you can offer, so encourage him or her to take advantage of any termination benefits that the company can provide or that can be obtained from outside sources.