When should you fire a team member

22 May 2026 · 1 min

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0:38

In this brief segment from Nick Kugelman's YouTube video, the host explains a decision‑making framework for determining whether an employee’s error warrants termination. The core question is whether the issue stems from a flawed process or from the individual. He illustrates the point with a story about a sales representative who made a $100,000 mistake. The host acknowledges that the lack of a proper process was his own fault and commits to adding safeguards so the error cannot recur. He then states that if the mistake continues after the process is fixed, it signals a people problem and may justify letting the employee go. The segment emphasizes a systematic, data‑driven approach rather than emotional reaction.

Chapters

How do you know the difference between humans make mistakes and when it's time to part ways with an employee?
My framework is always, is it a process problem or a people problem? I actually had a sales guy make a $100,000 mistake a few years ago. He called me up, felt horrible about it. I remember listening to him. I said, are you done? He's like, what do you mean? I said, did you learn the lesson? He said, yes. I said, good. I said, here's the thing. I know there's no process for what you did. That's my fault. We're going to add to the process. Process so you can't make the mistake ever again. If I've done that and the mistake keeps happening, then I probably have a people problem.