Unreason Ruled

BACKGROUND: In 2014 a large organisation dealing in several projects did not get the international accounts it anticipated and had to ask people to leave.

WHAT WENT WRONG: The leadership team decided to trim the workforce and initially asked the department heads to do away with the bench. When the business did not revive, the leaders put together another list and fired people (even some star performers) randomly, without consulting any business head. In fact, they decided to use the clause in the offer letter, which stated that the company had the right to ask people to leave without any reason. At first 80 were fired but finally, a total of 400 people had to go. The management stopped vising the company’s premises to avoid all possible confrontations.

TAKEAWAY: The layoff was mishandled as there was no communication from the leadership and no reason was given for the company’s action. Usually, organisations stick to the last-in-first-out principle or performance ratings or not-so-critical skills criterion when it comes to weeding out people. If there is a method followed, there is more co-operation from employees to facilitate the process. But when it is done as arbitrarily as in this case, rumour and mayhem rule. Consequently, employees lost trust; productivity went down, and attrition shot up for the next few years as most of the good people left. ~