If you can easily replace him, in the cold heart of day then you should look at all the options. Firing him is one, but it's better to look at his skills and we

If you can easily replace him, in the cold heart of day then you should look at all the options. Firing him is one, but it's better to look at his skills and weaknesses and see if there's anywhere else he would fit to still provide value. The kindest way to do so is this: Before you fire him, try to measure what he's doing and the value he generates. Look for alternative employment for him in company as an option and bring him into a meeting room with two people, explain that he's underperforming and develop a performance improvement plan with him as well as offering the alternative employment if it's appropriate. Minute the meeting, give him the option to change the minutes and get him to accept them over email. Re-evaluate his performance again over the next couple of months and make a decision. Once that's made, bring him back into the meeting room, inform him of your decision, stick to it and act on it. Having said that, you're in an at-will state so the type of thing I've described probably doesn't happen there. It's really down to you, but I've always sought to get the best out of my employees. Not everyone is a rockstar (to abuse the word horribly) but some people can be solid, dependable backup players. You should also think about the effects of terminating this guy's employment on the morale of others. Unless it's obvious to everyone else that he's not doing his job, or that he's causing friction and problems in the office people may react badly. You need to manage this.