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My intern asked if my company could extend his internship. My boss doesn't think he fits with our culture and his performance is mediocre at best, so we don't want to extend it beyond the summer. How should I inform him that we do not plan to extend his internship?
BLUF
Hi. I would use the MT compassionate layoff message and adapt with the correct last date.
https://manager-tools.com/documents/compassionate-layoffs-shownotes
Best of luck.
Carl Witte
Rip Off the Band-Aid
The one thing to guard against is your intern behaving unprofressionally and doing damage to the organization once you've delivered the message, so give some consideration to the timing.
When the time comes, there's no use gettting squirrley over it or beating around the bush. Get the disappointing news out in the first sentence: "Jamie, I've decided not to extend your internship. I know that that's disappointing and not what you wanted to hear."
If there's a reacation or request to want to know why, the "You Did Not Demonstrate" podcast/shownotes is perfect for the wordtracks to use. Focus on behavior, lack of results, take ownership of the decision, and avoid personal attacks.
Remember that it's not a debate (you're communicating a decision that you've already made) and don't get sucked into an open-ended discussion.
I'm down for a role-play if you want to rehearse and practice out loud ahead of time.