Impact of Firing Employees

“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” Sam Walton

If there is anything Covid-19 did to the business world is to pass a shockwave through it and shake it from its foundation. In the last year, more than seventy thousand employees have been laid off globally by Big Tech. Here are some stats:

Alphabet laid off 12,000 employees

Amazon laid off 18,000 employees

Meta laid off 11,000 employees

Twitter laid off 4,000 employees

Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees, and

Salesforce laid off 8,000 employees

Leadership is first stewardship and secondly, trust. That’s why human-centered leaders help their people with more than just work but their lives. They go beyond work. They see their people as part of their bigger family and are responsible to care for them.

An organization can never be more human than the humanity of the leader brings to it. That’s because a leader’s level of consciousness impacts the whole organization. What the leader believes translates into the actions the leader takes. The organization is the lengthened shadow of the leader.

How a company measures success is a function of the reason why it exists. A human-centered leader builds an organization to achieve a purpose. He believes that the organization should help each employee find meaning at work and fulfill their life purpose. When employees fulfill their purpose through their work, the company will fulfill its purpose.

A Human-Centered Leader cares and feels responsible for their people. Their purpose is to build a culture that makes the people better and sends them hope restored, safe, happy, and fulfilled at the end of the day. People are the focus of a human-centered leader. They understand the following about their people:

Every employee has the potential to realize; a dream to achieve

Every employee belongs to a family

Every family has expectations and aspirations for their member

Every family entrusts their member to the company they work for

Every family sends their member to work happy, fresh, and bright

Every family expects their member to come back from work happy, safe, and fulfilled

Style of Leadership

1. Military-Styled Leadership

The purpose of this leadership is to gain power and control over people. It is all about market share and control. They measure success by how powerful they are and their ability to have a voice in government. Companies like Shell, mining companies, and so on are in business to get power and control the government. People are fired for not obeying the leader. When someone has a disagreement with the leader, he or she will have to be fired to show who has the power. Leaders are only loyal to people who help them maintain the status quo. The leadership appeals to the owners. Success is measured by power and market share. Business is a chess game and employees are pawns and the owners are the queen that needs to be protected.

2. Mercenary-Styled Leadership

The purpose of this leadership is to get profit. Jack Welch brought that leadership to General Electric. It was all about maximizing profits. Once a division isn’t making a profit, it’s time to either sell off or fire the people. People are fired for not producing results that help the company with its bottom line. Leaders are loyal to those who help them make a profit. The leadership appeals to Wall Street analysts. Success is measured in dollars (profit).

3. Missionary-Styled Leadership

The purpose of this leadership is to achieve a purpose. The organization is a platform for everyone to find meaning and fulfill their personal purpose. Success is measured by the fulfillment of the organization’s purpose. This is human-centered leadership where the purpose is all about bettering the lives of people. People are allowed to be themselves. Disagreeing with leadership is allowed and if they are not producing results, they are reassigned to a division or department that fits their passion and help them achieve their purpose. Employees get reassigned to positions that best utilize their potential, passion, and capability. The leadership appeals to the innate desires of its people. A Human-centered leader is a missionary who builds an organization to achieve a purpose.

“Leadership is an awesome responsibility for the lives entrusted to you. Those who are entrusted with the opportunity to lead must recognize that leadership is not about the leader’s self-interest but about accountability to something bigger than oneself. People come into this world with gifts and talents, full of possibilities and unrealized potential. Our responsibility as leaders is to help them realize those possibilities by looking for the talents and goodness that exist in them and inspiring them to become what they are meant to be. Leaders are called to help people become what they were put on this earth to be as individuals and as part of a team or community.” Bob Chapman

Why Company Fires Employees

In February, Allie Page was laid off from her work. She shared her experience on her LinkedIn post. To the employer, it was cost savings but its impact on her goes beyond just leaving the job. She wrote, “I was troubled by my overall experience, especially the significant impact on my family’s access to urgent healthcare.” She requested an extension of her employment status in order to take care of her son’s health, but her request was denied. The leadership of the company must have cared more for savings in dollars than human flourishing and fulfillment.

Here is some reasons company’s fire:

1. Poor performance

2. Misconduct

3. Insubordination

4. Shift in Market

When people are laid off, what the leadership is doing is simply transferring the cost to families and society. The impact of job loss is much more than can be quantified in dollar amounts. The ripple effect can be traumatic in families especially if that employee is the sole breadwinner of his family. The impact of firing employees could include:

1. Children could drop out of school because a family lost its income source

2. Strain in marriages that may lead to disagreements, strife, and divorce

3. Toxicity in the home can result in substance abuse, violence, and vices

At Barry-Wehmiller, they define their purpose for being in business as: We’re in business so that all our team members can have meaningful and fulfilling lives”. This means that they will focus on bettering the lives of their employees. They create a culture that helps improve the lives of their employees and makes them better humans, spouses, parents, neighbors, and citizens.

Human-Centered leaders see beyond work to the life and family of their people. The best way to give back to society is to make their people better humans and leaders and send them home and to their community safe, healthy, happy, and fulfilled. They give them a purpose so they can live a life of meaning and purpose at work and at home.

When employees are stressed at work, they take that stress and spread it at home. Each day, the family takes care of the employee and send them to work with great expectations.

They send them to work healthy, they expect the company to send them back healthier.

They send them to work expectant of a better future and expect the company to help make that future a reality.

They send them to work confidently and expect the company to build that confidence.

They send them to work happy and expect the company to make them happier.

Firing an employee has a negative emotional impact on people. It can affect their self-esteem and confidence. When you have to fire someone, help them find another job or make a transition into something that will lessen the impact of being laid off. They have become emotionally attached and invested in their job; it's hard to just let go.

Follow the Human-Centered way and you will always consider the impact on humans more before making decisions. All of your business decisions will be driven by your focus on the humans who work with you.