I’m buying a business — how do I tell one employee (who’s currently my coworker) that I’m not keeping her on? — Ask a Manager

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past.

There will be more posts than usual this week, so keep checking back throughout the day.

Remember the letter-writer who was buying a business and needed to tell an employee that she wasn’t keeping her on? Here’s the update.

To answer one thing from your reply back in March, Sue is also an old friend of the previous owner so I did not see him letting her go any sooner with or without severance as a possibility. He was also a very hands-off manger in general and many people who should have been let go stayed on for much longer than I would put up with personally.

So here’s what happened: I set up a formal interview with Sue and one other coworker 1.5 months before the purchase with the clear messaging that I was definitely keeping on every member of the team who had been there longer than one year but wanted the opportunity to meet with the newer hires to decide if they would be a good fit to bring to the new practice. I also tried to open my mind up to the possibility that Sue would actually surprise me in her interview and possibly didn’t realize how she had come off in the past.

The interview confirmed my feelings that Sue saw going right to management as the best way to handle everything despite saying she craved a “team player” environment, and she denied every instance I pointed out of her going against her coworkers’ training and advice (I had personally witnessed or overheard the ones I presented). There was also a clear disagreement between Sue and me on when it is appropriate to take on others’ tasks without being asked first and a clear unawareness of her propensity to make mistakes. Therefore, I met with Sue a few weeks later to officially let her know that I did not see her being a good fit and she would not be starting work at the new practice.

She did end up buying and renting out the property next door and other than a few dumpster-sharing issues that in the end are still the old owner’s problem (it’s his dumpster as I rent the practice building from him and he is the one who sold her this adjacent property), her having a close proximity to the practice at times has not been an issue yet.

I will add that she reached out about a month into the new practice to ask to return and reported how blindsided she was by my reasoning to let her go and that she thought I had been misled by what others said about her. She also asked for a meeting. I declined to meet with her and let her know I was not considering bringing her on to the practice, reminded her I have never been her employer, and offered as a courtesy to write up a short summary to remind her of what we discussed in that final meeting which had nothing to do with gossip. She accepted this and despite a reply to my written statement that she disagrees with my read on the situation (I did not reply) I have not heard from her since.

Her daughter and I appear to still have a good relationship but she has still been unable to return to work due to her family situation. I could see us making space for her in the future if it works out later, but am also okay with the outcome of her not returning.