Well, our company is under going some serious corporate level restructuring and focus re-evaluation. In some cases this has involved cutting down of staff.
In this process, the most difficult part of the job (and it never gets easier) is giving staff their notice and asking them to leave. This becomes even more gut wrenching when it involves staff who have been loyal, good to the company and a great asset to the focus which unfortunately does not have any relevance now.
Yes, this is business and I have to make decisions so that it continues to run but times like this just do not seem to be fair for these employees.. they have been good for the company and they are being asked to leave for no fault of theirs. It is the company and the management who are responsible finally. Sure this is the "nature of business" but is it right to do this under the guise of "This is business and it is all about bottom line". ?
Just because they don't contribute to the bottom line currently, are they to be cast off as redundant.? We wouldn't have dared to lay them off when they were contributing to the bottom line earlier but we do it just the same today as such is "the nature of business". But is that correct or am I just getting emotional unnecessarily. ?
I know we have taken care of them as they have taken care of us. They have worked for us and we have paid them for the effort but we all know it is not as simple as that. As the years go by , you tend to treat them more as friends than as employees, you tend to bank on them more, you tend to take their advice more often, you involve them more and make them feel more than just employees and then suddenly one day you decide its time to "lay them off" as such is the "nature of business". I wonder "Is that right , it that correct ? "
People often say that you don't come to office to make friends or enemies , to trust people or not to trust people. You come to office to get your work done and go home leaving it all behind in the evening. Surely its not simple as that if you are with a organization for a couple of years. You make friends, your loyalty increases for the company, you not only work for the money but also for the company. You might even take on more work and extra duties with the belief that the company requires it and yet due to the demands of the so called "bottom line" and "corporate re-structuring" one day suddenly you are to be laid of. Is that correct ?
I am not saying that when I employed people , I guaranteed them employment for a life - time. They all know what they were getting into. They all signed a agreement which clearly stated that they would be given "1 months notice" in case of termination and sure I have given extra re numeration to several of them when I asked them to leave so that they can find another job without too much financial strain but my question still remains the same...
"I did what I had to do for the company bottom line and such is the nature of business but was it correct to do so ?"
