Flipkart's layoff program disguised as "Performance Improvement Program" is in news.
At the end of the Program some 600 employees will be sacked.
Will this improve Flipkart's performance? Yes and No.
Yes, in the short run.
No, in the long run.
You see, sacking employees has "short term" and "long term" implications. Both are loggerheads with each other.
Short term benefit :
- Saving cost of sacked employees
- A clear message to the remaining employees that "performance" matters
Long term costs :
- a fear laden atmosphere amongst the unsacked employees (will this promote "performance"?)
- a chink/dent in the culture of "Mutual Trust & Respect" that has been built so painstakingly till now
- an negative atmosphere in which an extraordinary person too may perform below-ordinary
Next question : what made the employees non-performers? Their innate "individual" qualities? Or the "atmosphere" of the organization?
The atmosphere is composed of Vision/Mission/Values, the Structure and the Managerial Processes. Who creates it? The management.
A management's primary role is to proactively and continually "change" the organization's Vision/Mission/Values, Structure and Processes to adapt to change in its lifefcycle stage.
What is the use of blaming and sacking employees (individuals) who were once recruited through the stringent processes of the company itself?
In short, "changing people" is God's job. The best managements cannot do it. Then, shouldn't the management focus on providing an "atmosphere", a culture replete with Mutual Trust & Respect.......in which an ordinary person can perform extraordinarily?
Just thinking
