Zach Holman was employee number 9 at Github. He was one of their earliest engineers, and he saw the team expand to over 250 employees. Years later, he was fired from his role and has since gone on to start his own companies and advise other startups.
In this episode, we talk about a really hard subject… firing and getting fired. We also cover why your onboarding process may be to blame if you have high turnover and the next steps you should take after someone is let go.
Wes’ Takeaways:
Fire humanely: Give warning, offer PIP, and understand/think deeply about human impact
Don’t let this be the end of your relationship. “Once you’re out, you’re out” is lame.
Onboarding is highly correlated with firing… If you’re seeing high turnover, it’s likely an onboarding problem.
Your goal should be: How do we make a company that most of the people who work here are happy and successful?
If things end well, ex-employees can be referral sources and advocates