What if they have family depending on the job?

That is real and worth weighing in how you do it — notice, a reference, timing. It is not usually a reason to keep someone in a role they cannot do, because the crew has families too.

Should I give more chances?

Give clear ones. Repeated vague chances are worse than one specific chance with a date, because nobody can act on a standard they cannot name.

How do I know if it is me rather than them?

Ask who was supposed to train them, whether the standard was ever written down, and whether anyone else has succeeded in the role. If the answer is nobody has, it is probably the role.

← Answers

Is it wrong to let someone go?

Keeping someone who cannot do the job is rarely kind — it is usually postponement, and the cost lands on the crew covering for them and on the person themselves, who stays in a role they are failing at. What matters is whether it was done honestly, with warning, and with the standard applied the same way for everyone.

The kindness question is the wrong way round

Owners ask whether letting someone go is unkind. The comparison that matters is against the alternative: months of a person knowing they are underwater, colleagues carrying it silently, and a conversation that eventually happens anyway with more resentment attached.

What makes it honest

That they knew. A specific standard, said out loud, with time and support to meet it, and a real chance to respond. "We have talked about this a few times" is not a standard. A dismissal that arrives as a surprise is a failure of management before it is a decision about a person.

Applied the same way for everyone

A rule enforced for one person and not another is worse than no rule at all — it tells the whole crew that the standard is really about who you like. That is the part people remember long after the individual has gone.

This is legal territory, not just moral

Notice, cause, documentation and process are set by employment standards where you are, and getting them wrong is expensive regardless of how fair you were. Get proper advice before you act, not after.

Also asked

What if they have family depending on the job?: That is real and worth weighing in how you do it — notice, a reference, timing. It is not usually a reason to keep someone in a role they cannot do, because the crew has families too.
Should I give more chances?: Give clear ones. Repeated vague chances are worse than one specific chance with a date, because nobody can act on a standard they cannot name.
How do I know if it is me rather than them?: Ask who was supposed to train them, whether the standard was ever written down, and whether anyone else has succeeded in the role. If the answer is nobody has, it is probably the role.

Written for your trade

This is the kind of thing Solomon works through with owners using their own numbers. See how it works →