In business, separations with employees are a necessary evil. Call it what you will—a firing, a furlough, a layoff, a whatever—virtually every organization eventually finds itself in this situation. This can be by choice or from circumstances. Managers detest the process. Talk to virtually any manager about the most distasteful thing they have to do and letting people go is typically at the top of the list. The horror stories of stunned, outraged employees receiving a security escort out the door are unfortunately pretty common. To say that the process is emotionally charged is an understatement.
Yet, when was the last time you heard of a displaced employee saying, ‘thank you’ to the person firing them? It happened at the Wilkins Group, a Dallas-area based telecommunications company. The principals of the Wilkins Group attribute this remarkable experience to 1) their amazing people and 2) the emphasis they have placed on professional values.
The principals of the Wilkins Group—Tom and Faye, a husband and wife team—adopted professional values as their north arrow for their company. What that meant to them is that they would use the principles from The Power of Professionalism as a guide in making everyday decisions—both common and complex. In addition, Tom and Faye believed that how people did things defined whether they were a professional or not—as opposed to merely defining professionals by what people did (e.g. their technical competence). Perhaps most impressively, Tom and Faye had instilled within their staff a desire to incorporate professional values in everything they did. Simply put: at Wilkins being a professional was a big deal.
Sam, one of Wilkins service workers, was fighting his own demons off the clock and unfortunately it was bleeding into his work. Despite his top-notch technical talent, Sam was constantly late to appointments, taking short-cuts with important administrative responsibilities, and, in general, served as a poor representative of the company. After multiple interventions and little change, Wilkins’ senior manager Christy decided to let Sam go. The question then became…
“How do we manage the separation process such that it reflects the professional values we espouse?” For those professionals at the Wilkins Group that were charged with the separation process, this was the central question they asked themselves.
In the final meeting, Christy sat Sam down and in an even, controlled manner, praised his abilities and potential, but explained that his personal distractions and lack of professional standards were unacceptable.
“Sam, at The Wilkins Group this is the level where we want our professional standards to be (raising one open palm to just below her chin). And, now placing her other open palm to her navel area, “this is the level where we see your professional standards”. The distance between her two palms was significant. “That gap is just too big, unfortunately, we are letting you go! But please understand we believe in you. We want you to succeed. And please know you’ll always have a job here when you get these problems corrected.”
Not surprisingly, Sam initially didn’t take the news well. He panicked, and started to yell and argue with Christy while she remained even keeled and level headed– just what you’d expect from a professional. Sam was hoping Christy would respond in-kind. He wanted Christy to yell back, to swear at him—anything to justify his anger. After Sam’s ranting, his harshness suddenly turned to tears. Christy was amazed.
Sam went on: “For the longest time you told me what I needed to do. I didn’t listen. I’m really sorry.” With her patience and commitment to maintain Sam’s dignity, Christy enabled Sam to not only see, but feel, his inherent value and the potential that went with it. Sam realized that Christy was the first person to ever treat him, warts and all, in such a dignified manner. Her professionalism helped him to realize that he was the source of his problem, at the end of their meeting Sam stood up and hugged Christy, saying “thank you, thank you, thank you.”
At the end of the day, Sam got a much needed wake-up call. Sure, it was painful. But Sam realized, at a very personal level, it was also necessary. Perhaps that’s why Sam was prompted to say ‘thank you’ to the very person who fired him.
Is it likely that an organization, even one that stresses professional values, will regularly have employees thanking leaders who are in the midst of severing ties with them? Don’t count on it. But what you can count on are the consistent benefits that naturally emerge when ‘baking in’ professional values within an organization—like the Wilkins Group has done. For Tom and Faye, professional values have evolved from being a powerful idea to a powerful habit—whether they’re applying them to their most important initiative or to a sensitive separation plan for an out-of-sorts employee.