Dismissal Secrets: The Bachelorette Edition
Website design By BotEap.comIt’s our favorite time of year – bachelorette season! It seems like yesterday that we were discussing the Bentley drama surrounding the Ashley Hebert season. (In case you’re wondering, Ashley is still happily engaged and now lives in New York with her bachelorette suitor, JP Rosenbaum. The couple just celebrated their one year anniversary. Awwwww.)
Website design By BotEap.comThis season features single mom Emily Maynard, former Bachelor fiancee (seasons 11 and 15) Brad Womack. Yes, Brad was the bachelor for two seasons. I’m not sure why he thought he had better luck the second time.
Website design By BotEap.comBut anyway, I digress. This season is quite different from the millions of others. Why? Mainly because Emily asked that the show be filmed in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina (instead of Los Angeles) so she could stay home with her daughter Ricki. (Ready for the tear jerk? In 2004, Emily was engaged to famous NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick. Sadly, Hendrick was killed in a plane crash, leaving his fiancee pregnant with their child. And now you see why she is the sweet bachelorette party?)
Website design By BotEap.comThere is something else a little different about this season. Emily seems to be taking a sensible approach to her eliminations. For example, last week, she didn’t wait for the dramatic rose ceremony to kick off her undesirable suitors. He released two before dating ended! Emily knows what she wants and is taking this dating reality show seriously because she has a daughter in the equation (and if you watch the show, you’ll hear her say this about 30 times in each episode). She’s not just looking for a husband, she’s looking for a stepfather for Ricki.
Website design By BotEap.comWhile Emily seems to be persuaded by the show’s executives to keep certain contestants around for that extra touch of drama (cough cough cough cough cough Kalon), she’s proving to be a tough lady. And we approve!
Website design By BotEap.comSo today, we thought about summarizing why Emily’s actions are approved by Integrity HR when it comes to removing incompatible suitors. Think of Bachelorette contestants as employees. Emily has the often dreaded job of laying off a few “employees” each week. And we think you are doing a good job. Let’s analyze it.
Website design By BotEap.comDismissal Secrets: The Bachelorette Edition
Website design By BotEap.comDon’t lock up people
Website design By BotEap.comPeople generally get upset when chained up, and employees (and reality show contestants) are no exception. In this season’s third episode of The Bachelorette, Tony, a single dad, starts crying on a date because he misses his 5-year-old son. After trying to comfort him during the most awkward ten minutes of television, Emily makes a “heartfelt” speech about how it wouldn’t feel right if she kept chaining him (and thus keeping him away from her son) when she isn’t. He will surely be the last one standing. So she sends him packing and he actually seems more relieved to go see his son than upset that he has lost the love game.
Website design By BotEap.comThe lesson: Don’t cheat on your employees. When it’s time to go, it’s time to go. Employees often get upset if they did something wrong on Wednesday and you wait until the next Friday to fire them. We can see the explosion now! Why did you wait more than a week (or even the end of the day)? Were you using me? But another important lesson here is that you must make a well-thought-out decision. Firing someone should not be a hasty decision (except in very extreme circumstances). As always, you have to find the right moment: enough time to think it over, but not too long. For Emily, ten minutes (after TV editing magic) was long enough to realize that the cry baby wasn’t going to work for her.
Website design By BotEap.comFollow your gut (and your documentation trail)
Website design By BotEap.comDuring a cocktail party at the group date, Brazilian Alessandro tells Emily that having a wife and kids is a “compromise” that would force him to change his free-spirited “gypsy king” lifestyle. No, we can’t make this up! Emily even asks if he wants to use another word (willing to dismiss this as a language barrier), but he insists that he is using the correct word. Then Emily walks him out the door. See ya!
Website design By BotEap.comIf that’s not a red flag, then we don’t know what is. When it comes to deciding whether employees are right for your organization, you need to do what Emily did: follow your gut (and the documentation trail). What do we mean by that? Make sure your employee knows the rules and the consequences for breaking them. It should never surprise you that you can get fired for doing something. In this case, Alessandro came to the show knowing that Emily was a single mother looking for a husband / stepfather. He enrolled! So he had every right to kick him to the sidewalk when he broke one of his stipulations.
Website design By BotEap.comHere’s a tip: Create a “firing” checklist that you can complete to make sure someone has enough evidence against you to get fired. You will then have the information to support your decision if it is questioned.
Website design By BotEap.comGet to your point
Website design By BotEap.comEmily’s goodbyes at the rose ceremony (especially Stevie) are always short, sweet, and to the point. This is not the time to try to get it back; It is time to leave with what is left of your dignity.
Website design By BotEap.comThe same can be said for the termination meeting. Always, always should prepare in advance. You should provide enough detail so that the employee knows why you are being fired, but you should not get into an argument. Remember, this is not a negotiation! If you open the floor to negotiate, you will be there all day. Make your point and show them the door. And if you want to be like the bachelorette party, you can have the cameras follow them on their way out to get their exit interview … and watch them cry in the limo.
Website design By BotEap.comFire on mondays
Website design By BotEap.comGranted, Emily doesn’t really have a voice on the day of the week her rose ceremony airs, but it just so happens that The Bachelorette takes over television for two hours every Monday.
Website design By BotEap.comMonday turns out to be the day we recommend firing employees. Do not panic. You can still fire people on other days, but we recommend doing it at the beginning of the week, virtually any day except Friday. Why? If you fire someone on a Friday, give them the whole weekend to sit and cook. In addition, the unemployment offices are not open during the weekend, so they cannot even go to seek help for a few days. If you fire them on Monday or earlier in the week, you give them the entire workweek to get out, go to the unemployment office, and network to find a new job. As always, you should do it at a time and day that are convenient for your business (and that does not chain them). Only you know what that day / time will be.
Website design By BotEap.comAs for Emily, she’s been firing her contestants from left to right. And good for her! When you know what you want, you shouldn’t have to put up with the crevice raft. The same goes for employees.