Hiring a New Knee

This is a sequel to a recent HR Doctor article which explored the ironic similarities between my recent experience with a total knee replacement and the very tough HR decision to fire an employee. That article looked at essential elements to pay attention to when firing an employee or, in my recent case, “terminating” my lifelong relationship with my right knee.

A core part of both the biological issue and the employment issue is the need to focus on performance and behavior in making tough decisions like discipline or termination. Performance and behavior in relation to the job description is a strong indicator that the decisions were job-related.

That job-relatedness concept, in turn, is a prime defense against charges of unlawful employment practices such as race or gender discrimination.

I spent a great amount of time working with my former knee trying to get his behavior corrected and improved. I provided coaching in terms of exercising, and considered other lesser actions such as just living with the poor behavior and performance or cortisone injections — all less drastic than a knee replacement. Finally, despite my best efforts, the poor behavior and performance continued and I decided to move ahead with “termination.”

This was done after consulting with experts including several orthopedic surgeons and my own personal physician, Dr. Daughter Rachel. The employment parallel would be consultation with your friendly neighborhood HR director of your organization.

So, the decision was made. After pre-operation preparations were undertaken, a couple of meetings held with the caring and very competent orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jim Duke, and seeking permission from the all-powerful insurance company, the surgery occurred. It lasted for 40 minutes and I’m happy to report that I awoke from the anesthesia!

The process involved super gluing the incision and beginning a monthlong series of home-nursing visits, checking vital signs, inspecting the incision area and making sure any questions I had were addressed promptly.

There was also the most pleasant experience of a month of physical therapy involving three home visits a week. All of my friends who have shared their own knee experiences tell me that I had better pay close attention and follow through with all recommendations. If I didn’t, recovery would be delayed and much more painful. I was also reminded about the high-tech medieval instrument called “the rack.”

Writing this a month after surgery allows me to now look back and realize that I’m regaining a lot of mobility, I’m walking without assistive devices like a walker or a cane. I hope to resume driving next week and to resume that wonderful concept of sleep in the very near future as well.

Deciding and acting on terminations in a civil service world is something which really requires the same kind of expert consultation as does the decision to adopt a new knee.

The orthopedic surgeon is the equivalent of the HR director in these cases, complete with the fact that often executives will seek the active involvement of the HR staff, including possibly offering a free lunch in trade for HR actually meeting with the employee to tell them of their termination. Here the similarity ends since I was not offered the opportunity to perform my own surgery.

The same care and consultation with experts is also necessary when it comes to an agency recovering from the difficulties which virtually always result after a position is vacated. Whether the new vacancy resulted from a termination, retirement or even a basic resignation, the questions inevitably arise about how we replace the former employee and what we have to care about in making that decision.

In fact, executives should not be allowed to simply go about terminating someone and then move on to the next difficult decision without carefully including thoughtful considerations about some of the same considerations that I have recently experienced in dealing with my knee.

After firing anyone, whether it is an FBI director or an entry level worker, executives need to look back at what they’ve done and consider how the next decisions could be better made or better implemented. That certainly includes several chats at least with HR to make sure that the actions were well-documented and defensible.

These executives need to practice their HR skills to see that they strengthen them and that the study and practice necessary to do great HR is faithfully followed.

If not, the organizational “physical therapy” will be prolonged, much more painful, and likely very much more expensive.

I have named my new knee “Rod–Knee.” I sincerely welcome my new titanium friend into my body. Rod-Knee let me know what I can do to help you help me become better, more thoughtful and stronger than before. Think of Rod-Knee as you make your own tough decisions!