Firing People

Getting a job is probably one of the key milestones in anyone’s life. A job, for the most of us, is the main way in which we generate the income that sustains us and helps us to raise a family and to ensure that our old age is somewhat comfortable.

Jobs are not only the way in which we sustain ourselves; they are for the most part, the means in which we identify ourselves in society. What we do for a living and where we work provide us with a certain sense of purpose. I think of the number of old people who take so much pride in the fact that their offspring have made it to law or medical school. One of the most prominent examples of “professional” pride came from the way my former brother-in-law who became an engineer at Defense Science Organisation or “DSO.” You can blame this on the ancient Indians, who created as caste system where you were literally born into a certain job and your name was supposed to be a reflection of what you did for a living.

So, as you can imagine, one of the most emotionally charged acts in the modern capitalist system is the termination of employment. When you fire someone, you are not only taking away their means of making a living, you are, in fact, taking a portion of their life. The act of sacking people can be painful, especially if you’re not ruthless by nature (which I am admittedly not).

Since I’ve worked in liquidations, I have had to sack people on various occasions. Company is in liquidation, which means there’s no money to pay anyone. A liquidator has to turn off the taps to ensure what little money there is, is actually preserved. Hence, sacking people without pay is actually a necessity. Terminating former directors is usually a simple formality. Sacking a group of Indian and Bangladeshi workers who have not been paid and have probably borrowed significant sums of money from nasty people is probably one of the most heart breaking experiences anyone can go through. I’ve done it twice and it doesn’t get easier. I feel like a shit when I have to look at the faces of innocent, decent people I’ve crushed.

Yet, we live in a capitalist system and firing people is part and parcel of that system. Businesses are in the business of making money and not creating social welfare. Employees are hired to do task and if those task can be done cheaper and better by someone (with the advent of AI, someone is usually something too) else, why shouldn’t the business go for the cheaper and more effective method?

There are also times when employees should be fired. I think of the little political shits who hang around office cubicles thinking of ways to mess up their colleagues (This is the group that every management guru advises you to sack even if the person in question is a star performer). There are also employees whose personal lives are such that their performance at work is affected (One of the reasons why Gina was never really accepted into my family was the fact that she had a habit of calling me up at work and screwing me up. Huong by contrast doesn’t).

I work on the principle that that sacking people should always be done swiftly, honestly and humanely. If the employee in question is problematic, you should sack them on the spot. The disruption caused by a “poisonous” apple is worse than the disruption to the work process.

If it’s a case of dealing with an employee who is not performing to his or her potential, the answer is probably to counsel the said employee and to provide a chance or two before sacking the said employee.

Generally speaking, one should also be honest. If you really can’t keep people, you should let them know. The days where the relationship between employer and employee being like a marriage have long gone. In the last sacking I did, the Indian workers actually told me, “Don’t worry Sir, we know you’re just doing your job.”

On the flip side, employees should also understand that the concept of “iron rice bowl or iron bread basket (for Western readers)”is not necessarily a good thing. Nature did not intend for things to be comfortable and just as employers have the opportunity to choose someone younger and cheaper, employees also have options to change to employers who appreciate them or industries that are growing.

I was sacked by an Uncle of mine. I think the poor guy must have received a lot of flak from the family. I never gave it to him. We had lunch a year or so after he sacked me and I actually thanked him for teaching me many things. Likewise, when I was effectively “banged out of BANG PR,” I actually felt that my life became better. I did the “Saudi Embassy Job” and later on got the IIT and IIM jobs. Sure, I might not have had the financial stability or the “experience” that big corporation lust after with years of being in an agency. However, I’ve had the privilege of doing “G2G” work as a lone individual. Instead of being AVP at Webber Shandwick, I’ve had someone say, “You did more for us than Webber Shandwick USA.” These are the experiences I can take to my grave with a certain matter of pride. I saw my sackings as a chance to do something else and it’s something we should allow workers to have.

I’m of the view that what we need is greater mobility of labour. Jobs are important but they shouldn’t define us. Why do we insist of an immigration policy that ties a worker to a particular company. Surely, we’d be doing the world a greater service if we created conditions that encouraged workers to move around more.