Dear Bob ... I am the IT Manager of a small company (fewer than 100 full time employees). The CFO has allowed me to contract people to do "helpdesk" tech support. I have seen that after a while they either get too comfortable and stop doing their job, or as in the last time, their skills lack showed up at the worst time and I decided to get rid of them. When I have "let them go" the office is up in arms that "Th Dear Bob …I am the IT Manager of a small company (fewer than 100 full time employees). The CFO has allowed me to contract people to do “helpdesk” tech support. I have seen that after a while they either get too comfortable and stop doing their job, or as in the last time, their skills lack showed up at the worst time and I decided to get rid of them. When I have “let them go” the office is up in arms that “The PHB fired so and so.”How does one manage/terminate contractors with out getting a black eye? The office staff seems to think that I do this because I feel threatened by these contractors. Also, this last time, I just called the consulting company and told his manager his assignment was finished. Is that “being fair”? Do I have any obligation to give them notice or anything? – Another black eyeDear Ocular …As you’re finding out, the difference between a contractor and an employee is legal, not psychological. Employees develop relationships indiscriminately with both. And in both cases, friendships aren’t based on job performance. You’re discovering something else as well: Just because you source a position through a staffing service or by engaging an independent contractor instead of hiring an employee, the principles of management and leadership don’t change a bit. You’re responsible for making sure the right people with the right skills and attitudes work on the right tasks.The question to ask yourself is whether you provided proper management and leadership to the contractors in question before asking for their departure, just as it would be for an employee. Did you set clear expectations? Did you provide regular communication about their performance? Or did you make the mistake many managers make, which is to figure the advantage of engaging contractors is that they don’t require the time and effort to manage that employees do.My concern is that the failure rate you describe is higher than I’d expect given the size group I imagine you manage. That suggests you either aren’t properly screening contractors before they start or aren’t giving them the attention they need after they’re on board. As for what employees say about it, it’s rare that they’d do anything other than take the side of any individual who was terminated. I presume you were discreet about the specific reasons for the departures, because that’s the professional course of action. The contractors likely were not. That’s just the way the game is played. I don’t know of many situations where an employee or contractor was terminated and the employees walked into the manager’s office to shake his or her hand to say thank-you.I will say this – the stronger the team and the employees, the more likely it is that they will.– Bob Technology Industry