Whether you are part of a hospital system like Johns Hopkins Home Care Group in Baltimore or an independent Physical Therapy agency like Rehab Maxx in Chicagoland, Ankota's customers must sometimes face the very difficult task of firing people. As anyone who has mishandled a firing before will tell you: Don't mess it up. (Our customers don't mess it up...we're just sayin').

It's awful and no one ever enjoys it. If you are like most people, you dread firing staff and, let's face it, you're probably not very good at it anyway (don't feel bad: no one is). There are some definite "do's and don'ts" that you MUST follow and this article by Jeff Hayden of Inc. does a good job of synthesizing a lot of concepts into "The 10 Worst Things you Can Say When Firing Someone."

Says Hayden, "Firing someone is hard -- but getting fired is always harder. Don't make it worse by putting your foot in your mouth." Hayden continues, "Never say the following..."

1. "Look, this is really hard for me." 

2. "We've decided we need to make a change."

3. "We will work out some of the details later."

4. "You just aren't cutting it compared to Mary."

5. "Okay, let’s talk about that. Here’s why..."

6. "You’ve been a solid employee but we simply have to cut staffing."

7. "We both know you aren't happy here, so down the road you’ll be glad."

8. "I need to walk you to the door."

9. "We have decided to let you go."

10. "If there is anything I can do for you, just let me know."

You can read Hayden's article in its entirety here, including a discussion of each of The 10 Worst Things You Can Say When You Fire Someone