EQ Termination Checklist

A Thoughtful Leadership Guide for Compassionate, Compliant Terminations

How we onboard team members is important, but how we offboard them matters just as much.

This document is an excellent document for leaders to review prior to termination. It focuses on two important points:

1. Helping leaders remember they are navigating a moment that the team member may remember for years, possibly forever. Applying a little thoughtfulness, emotional intelligence, and preparation can greatly reduce stress and emotional harm on both sides.

2. Providing People & Culture reminders in order to avoid lawsuits or undeserving unemployment claims.

This easy-to-use digital download serves as a quick-reference guide before termination meetings, helping leaders prepare both from an operational perspective and emotional. Because while a termination may be one meeting on a calendar for leadership, for the team member, it is often a moment they may remember for many years — possibly their entire life.

This checklist helps leaders:

• Approach difficult conversations with dignity and emotional intelligence

• Reduce unnecessary emotional harm and workplace conflict

• Maintain professional boundaries without rehashing prior coaching conversations

• Ensure important HR and compliance steps are not overlooked

• Support consistency, clarity, and professionalism throughout the process

Because emotional intelligence in leadership does not mean avoiding difficult conversations — it means handling them thoughtfully.