by Jean-Louis Gassée Ending a work relationship needn’t be complicated or traumatic. It can be done in a sane and respectful way if a clean framework is set up at hiring time. In an August, 2012 Monday Note titled The HR-Less Performance Review, I described a sane, humane way for an employer to conduct the dreaded Performance Review. The script is simple: Your performance meets or exceeds requirements. You get to keep your job. Your salary increase is x%. When you’re ready, allow me to offer a few observations and suggestions that could help improve your performance and our relationship: <Polite challenges and proposed cures, here>. That said, because you’re doing fine as things are, feel free to ignore my remarks. Now, do you have any questions, complaints, or observations of your own? And remember, You’re Doing Fine… Thank you. End of review. That’s the template. Of course, there is a second type of review, or, more accurately, there isn’t one. If the individual’s performance fails to meet requirements, the message should be succinct and clear: We need to part company. There’s no need to drag the