Question
He's a great guy but isn't at the senior engineering level he was hired for. Other engineers have to rewrite his code, he takes 5x as long to get things done and it's just hard on all of us so I need to let him go, but he's off this weekend for a week going away for a wedding.
Is it better to "pull the bandaid" and get it done before he goes or wait until he comes back? He's in an at-will state so all legal/HR issues have been covered.
Answer
Time is essence in any such decisions. Early discussion to help him to transition is advisable. Such decisions are made before weekend so that your and his week starts fresh. Make sure that the documentation of non-productive efforts are in place.
At Early startup stage its important to make the performance feedback instant and part of the culture. So that it helps people to make decisions including you who are running the business risk.
