When confidentiality goes wrong

“We just had to let Jordan go. Can you terminate him in the system?” 

Termination isn't just a button in your HRIS. It's a tightly regulated event. It's the kind of process where everyone is watching. That’s why HR and managers feel so much pressure to keep it confidential. 

But too much confidentiality means the people responsible for execution don’t have enough time to get it right. 

And no one is watching more closely than the person who's about to stop getting paid. 

“Jordan lives in Massachusetts,” I said. “His final check has to be paid today.”

The color drained from her face. “Oh… can’t you just cut a check?” 

“It’s 2025. We don’t have a checkbook.” 

This kind of breakdown happens all the time. The instinct is to keep the circle small. HR prepares the talking points, but without insight into payroll, IT, legal, and finance, they don’t always know what has to happen when. You don’t know what you don’t know. 

“Let me call finance to approve a wire,” I said. “It looks like Vanessa will be out of her meeting in 15 minutes.” 

“Oh no. Don’t tell Vanessa. She’s going to think I’m an idiot after I put the wrong salary in the offer letter last month.” 

The payroll processing time was four days. “Well... either we wire him today or keep him on payroll until Wednesday.” 

“Vanessa’s not gonna like that either.” She looked like she was going to be sick. 

“Let me know which way you want to go. I'll smooth it over when I follow up with Jordan about COBRA and stuff.” At least I had a template for that. 

HR focuses on people. Managers focus on discretion, tone, and (hopefully) empathy. 

But if no one maps the operational steps, the handoffs don’t happen on time. When the process isn’t in sync, balls get dropped. And all the empathy and discretion in the world won’t matter if you botch the execution. 

Dropped balls don’t just upset the person leaving. They ripple through the team that’s watching how it’s handled. 

With terminations, every detail is scrutinized. You don’t mess with people’s money. 

If you're not building lead time into your exit process across payroll, IT, finance, and legal, you're not running a process. You're laying landmines. 

Don’t wait for a fire drill to reveal the gaps. Map the process, including the handoffs and the information each one requires. Once you try it, you'll see what I mean.

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