Making an employee redundant

[LearningMan]

Hi all, I am looking at making one of my IT team members role redundant as the organisation has made a decision to outsource this persons day to day activities.

This decision to outsource has nothing to do with this persons performance.

The person has been employed for 17 years.

The dilemna is whether to have him finish up on the day or not given how long he has been with the company.

As an IT member this person has access to a lot of information which poses a risk in case the news is not taken well during his meeting when he will be told the news.

What would you do if you were faced with such situation ? Would you have him finish up after the meeting or allow him to stay 2-3 days followed by a farewell lunch ? Any feedback is appreciated as I have not been faced with such situation before.

 

[The Y-man]

Hi all, I am looking at making one of my IT team members role redundant as the organisation has made a decision to outsource this persons day to day activities.

This decision to outsource has nothing to do with this persons performance.

The person has been employed for 17 years.

The dilemna is whether to have him finish up on the day or not given how long he has been with the company.

As an IT member this person has access to a lot of information which poses a risk in case the news is not taken well during his meeting when he will be told the news.

What would you do if you were faced with such situation ? Would you have him finish up after the meeting or allow him to stay 2-3 days followed by a farewell lunch ? Any feedback is appreciated as I have not been faced with such situation before.

Our organisation proc would be to escort the person out upon informing him (escort him to pak up desk etc). Passwords etc would all be changed on or just prior to announcement.

A lunch can be arranged separately (although managers are usually NOT welcome!! ) after the initial dust has settled.

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[MichaelW]

Hi Jose,

My suggestion would be to have them finish up on the same day too. Only because he has access to systems and the potential for damage to be done. Its just not worth the risk.

Pay him his notification period plus redundancy allowance but set him free immediately. So, in effect, he gets another month's pay on top of his redundancy pay out.

Have him come back for a lunch with the team after the dust has settled.

I had to make an employee redundant last year and didn't enjoy the process one bit. Sorry you have to experience that.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[The Y-man]

Oh, one other thing - shut down the email account immediately. Make sure that any farewell email is sent from a manager's account (eg let the person compose on word etc and cut paste after doctoring it if necessary).

Might sound harsh, but we had some pretty damaging emails go out - not just within the company but outward, form staff doing their goodbyes....

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[ani]

It is never fun to have to retrench someone.

I'd go for off the premises immediately also. But I would hire an outplacement counsellor to be there and available to support him.

After 17 years, I think he warrants that sort of help to adjust to being retrenched and having to find new employment.

 

[LearningMan]

Thanks for the quick responses ... I have a meeting with my boss this afternoon to decide best course of action.

I definitely agree with having them leave on the spot. I beleive the company does offer outplacement services which will help.

I'll keep you all posted.

 

[tubs]

Our IT dept has always kept people who resign on until their final day (4 weeks) and never had a problem.

Funny thing, my wife just went back to work after 2 years mat. leave, and they made her sign an Individual Agreement (thingo) which had 5 weeks notice, not 4. She resigned a couple of weeks later so got herself another week (she was escorted out later the same day).

 

[Twitch]

17 years and you're seriously considering just escorting them out the building immediately? Can you think of anything more humiliating than that? Are you trying to destroy this persons credibility?

Even 2 or 3 days is an insult.

Be a man, show some courage and give the person their due. Give them the choice how long they want to stay. And make sure you cough up plenty of money for a nice lunch to say thank you for this persons 17 year contribution and loyalty.

I mean, honestly, have some compassion.

What the hell is the world coming to?

 

[The Y-man]

Our IT dept has always kept people who resign on until their final day (4 weeks) and never had a problem.

There is a huge difference between resignation or voluntary redundancies, and forced redundancies / layoff / dismissal etc.

If the person wants to go, you usually need to hold them back to get as much info out of them as you can!

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[The Y-man]

17 years and you're seriously considering just escorting them out the building immediately? Can you think of anything more humiliating than that? Are you trying to destroy this persons credibility?

Even 2 or 3 days is an insult.

Be a man, show some courage and give the person their due. Give them the choice how long they want to stay. And make sure you cough up plenty of money for a nice lunch to say thank you for this persons 17 year contribution and loyalty.

I mean, honestly, have some compassion.

What the hell is the world coming to?

I know it sounds very harsh. The person in question is being treated exactly the same as someone who is being dismissed for illegal activities.

However information security is paramount - it could compromise many other employees and the entire organization, should the person decide to commit a malicious act (plant malicious software, delete data, etc), or even if an act that could be perceived as a malicious is performed.

I agree, the pay for the notice period is a given, a nice lunch, lots of alcohol, and a very good reference.

As a matter of interest, in our office, the person with 17 years experience (me) would be the last out - it's just not "economically feasible" (we get 4 weeks to every year of service).
Call me a cynic, but I believe when they need to "reduce headcount", they look for the most recent starter and THEN make a reason as to why their position is redundant The ones who are left take up the extra workload.....

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[natmarie73]

I've never been made redundant, nor have I ever had to tell someone they were being made redundant but I have had a lot of hands on experience with internal change management within companies.

This is a person who has worked for 17 years without incident and you are basically proposing to escort him out the building without so much as a thank you or by your leave as if he was caught stealing confidential secrets or worse!

Everyone is forgetting about the remaining employees. They will find out from this guy or the office grapevine what has happened and no doubt would think the same thing would maybe happen to them - very good for employee morale and increased risk of sabotage.

My first instinct would be to treat this person as though they are still a valued employee throughout the whole process, let him leave at a time that is mutual to both of you, let him say his goodbyes to his workmates, throw him a very long and expensive lunch with lots of kudos, accolades etc where both management and employees are present and basically make him king for a day, tell the other employees outright what the situation is so there is no gossip and give him all the support he needs. In addition, you may find yourself oneday needing his expertise and experience for another role, so you don't want to burn any bridges I assume.

If you treat him well there is no reason for him or any remaining employees to try and sabotage the company in revenge. Treat this person as you would want to be treated yourself and you shouldn't have any worries about security or sabotage or whatever. After 17 years don't you think he deserves the benefit of the doubt? It's not like he hasn't had the opportunity to sabotage or steal secrets during his employment after all.

I think you might be better off speaking to a specialist consultant before you do anything, as your actions towards this employee will dictate the final outcome in this instance.

Just my opinion though.

 

[alexlee]

I agree that the person should be escorted out on the same day. Sure it's not nice, but if they have access to confidential info it's security measure. In banking if you're a trader and you get fired you are escorted out. No questions.

Personally, I have no issue with that, no matter how long the person has been there. It's policy and I can see the reasoning (the person can do damage to the company if they still have access to their computer, etc). By all means give him outplacement support and make sure you don't make it personal.
Alex

 

[Morgs]

You need to evaluate the individual in coming to a descision, and though it can be difficult to gauge the reaction to a major event such as a redundancy - through 17 years you'd have enough information to predict the reaction.

 

[BBarnes]

G'day,

Yeah, Twitch, I'm with you.

If you, LM, after 17 years with this person, do not know him/her well enough, to feel you have to pose this question on an investors website, then perhaps YOU should be the one to go.

If you don't know one of your employees inside out, after this length of time, then you're well and truly out of touch.

But he's only a number, anyway, right?

Sheesh!!!!!!!!!!!

Bill

 

[alexlee]

If you, LM, after 17 years with this person, do not know him/her well enough, to feel you have to pose this question on an investors website, then perhaps YOU should be the one to go.

If you don't know one of your employees inside out, after this length of time, then you're well and truly out of touch.

But he's only a number, anyway, right?

The person has been employed for 17 years, doesn't mean LM has known him for that long.

It may not be nice, but it's economic reality. Maybe it's just a few vindictive employees scaring employers into using this tactic, but it is what it is. When confidential information or system integrity is at stake, I think the person should be escorted out. In banking, a vindictive trader could just put crazy trades and cause millions in financial damage.

Personally, if i had to do this (I hope I don't) I would leave the building with that person, take him to lunch, go through his options, etc and maybe invite the whole team but I would support escorting him out that day.
Alex

 

[geoffw]

Two situations

.The person has made a really valuable contribution to the company. If you blow him out the door you will destroy his self confidence and perhaps even his ability to find something else
.But he has knowledge which may make him dangerous should he wish to do so.

I've seen people in the US- like "severance counsellors" (I don't think that's the right term, and that sounds horrible, but that's the summary of their role).

A big part of their role is to find the person another job. And this is something it may me worth while trying.

This person is a valuable employee, with some great skills.

Might it be worth while going to some head hunters, with some good references and summaries of his strengths and contributions, with a view to having some options lined up for him if he would like to continue elsewhere?

This would enable perhaps a win/win. You are helping him pick up the pieces- even perhaps giving the possibility of a higher paid job or contract, with a good redundancy payout. But you keep the security of the place, while softening the blow.

 

[GreatPig]

I have had to dismiss someone, and through real concerns of what he might do, escort him out immediately after the meeting - just allowing him time to gather his belongings, although his computer login password was changed during the meeting.

Our IT guy was also dismissed recently and escorted straight out, as he had a record of bad temper.

However, I would base it on my knowledge of the person and how well he took it. If there was any doubt though, I would at least remove his access to the IT systems. If that then meant there was nothing for him to do, well, he may as well leave, but I wouldn't necessarily march him out the door. He could hang around for a while, say some goodbyes, and maybe have a few beers after work. As long as he can't access the IT systems, and isn't left alone in the IT room with a sledgehammer , then there's no real reason to kick him straight out the door.

GP

 

[WinstonWolfe]

paranoia rulezzzz.....simple solutions from simple minds....

The guy is only a threat for as long as it takes to scale back his systems access.....

Any serious business would have a hierarchical administration protocol that could scale back his access in the time it takes him to have a double decaf with the CIO....

Intelligence extraction can occur on a mirrored network....

Escorted walkouts are for poorly managed dumpty operations....

though apparently the same thing happened to Steve Jobs......

 

[The Y-man]

Escorted walkouts are for poorly managed dumpty operations........

Yep, that's us!!

How else do you escort out the only guy that knew the admin passwords to half the servers....

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[wylie]

Can you not outsource this person's day to day activities to HIM but on the basis of him being a contractor rather than an employee? If he is a valuable asset, why would you outsource his work? I don't understand.

Or do you really want him gone?

Wylie