Viewing the Case's Decisions in Tandem; Biases in Termination & The Issue of Conformity

+Viewing the Case’s Three Personnel Decisions in Tandem: One thing I’d note that didn’t come up in class is the combined effect that multiple of these major personnel shakeups could have on Lazier Industries and on Bob. With this string of decisions, especially if two or more are executed at around the same time, there is probably a major risk to company culture and Bob’s reputation as a leader. If the terminated employees rightfully feel blindsided because there weren’t clear prior signals about their terminations being legitimate possibilities, that will probably cause a lot of mistrust among others (e.g., people feeling like they have no idea where they stand at the company, people losing faith in the review process). This could quickly escalate to an organization-wide culture issue. This is why I personally would err toward giving Scott, who is the only leader among the three employees being evaluated that inspires consistent followership, more time – albeit with much more serious “watch” protocols that very heavily involve Anthony.

 

+Biases in Termination & The Issue of Conformity: Separately, I like the concept of a Termination Expert as someone who can check the decision-maker with an independent assessment of whether a termination seems warranted. In practice, I would love to always have trusted colleagues, including the TE, who will be able to push back on any potential biases or misunderstandings that may have led to an unfair characterization of the employee in question. Especially where reasons for termination or low performance evaluations have to do with “qualitative” judgment calls – e.g., collaboration skills, coachability, management ability, attitude – it’s paramount that we make sure we are appropriately considering the employee’s background, style, and other personal factors. And it’s critical that we carefully scrutinize ambiguous concepts like “not a good fit” to understand whether we are incorporating biases in a way that is not only unfair to the employee but counterproductive to creating a company with diverse ideas and a sense of inclusion. In the extreme alternative, all our performance reviews and terminations will accomplish is creating a culture of uniformity, where everyone knows exactly how to get ahead and tailors their personality to that archetype!