HIRE AND FIRE - IS IT JUSTIFIED?

The hire and fire concept is taking the center stage in the corporate world with the shake up of American economy due to the bankruptcy of Lehman Bros. Its repercussions are felt across the globe. It is like if American economy catches cold the rest of the economies in the world getting sneezes.

Every company has its objectives and goals based on its vision statement. It recruits the employees with certain expectations to deliver the goods. What happens if the employees fail to deliver the goods? Is it justified to fire them just because they failed to live up the expectations of the employer?

The concept of hire and fire is to hire the employees with certain expectations by the employers and if they fail to live up to the same then the employees would be fired. It is widely prevalent in the private sector and it is more so in IT sector

The concept is justified if the employees fail to prove themselves despite repeated reminders about their inefficiency. And at the same time they should be given sufficient time to pull up their socks. Even then if they do not come up to the standards they should be given adequate time to look for other alternative opportunities and should be released with dignity and honor with certain financial benefits. And also it is necessary not to mention the same in their records as it would jeopardize their prospects of getting placement elsewhere.

If the company does not have projects or contracts at hand and if it fires their employees on one pretext or the other it is totally unjustified. Usually when a few companies do not have business or contracts then they start looking at the employees on disciplinary grounds for termination of services so as to cut down their costs. If that is the case, then there is something wrong with the company policy itself. Why should the company hire the extra staff when the projects are not at hand? Whose fault is it? The employees cannot be blamed for the same. Now a day there are only nuclear families and both the spouses are working. What happens when there is only one breadwinner in the family and if he or she loses job?

It is rightly said that the quality of employee performance begins with the quality of the hire. People are different on paper and by performance. When the gap is wide between paper and performance then the point of firing starts. First of all there should be correct recruitment policy to avoid the pitfalls of firing. When hiring is perfect the question of firing does not arise. It is an HR issue. The companies should look at various traits like knowledge, attitude, skills and habits at the time of recruitment itself. Whether the candidate is suitable for the post or not and, if not, can the candidate be trained and groomed in tune with the vision and mission of the organization are to be looked at thoroughly, at the time of recruitment itself.

In extreme cases it is necessary to fire the employee. Not to fire the poor performer may encourage another poor performer for taking the system for granted. At times, the good performer may also be encouraged by the behavior of such employees. Some times the poor performers may bring down the morale of other good workers. Likewise there are number of factors that have to be taken into account before firing. In the HR there is a popular slogan "hire slowly and fire fast" and it looks good and sounds good for alliteration but in reality there are many implications and complications involved in this.

If the companies protect the mediocre employees then over a period of time the company would be beset with mediocre staff and the results would be poor. Gradually the leadership falls into the hands of mediocre persons who never allow talent persons to enter and if they enter the company by chance, they will not be allowed to survive.

Usually when the firing starts, it is only the lower rung that are unproductive and redundant would be on the hit list. No company would like to lose the talent who has been trained and groomed. Providing right training and upgrading the skills and abilities of the employees regularly will help the organizations to do better and to avoid the concept of firing. Ultimately firing represents the wrong picture for the employers and for the employees too.

Remember, nobody should take his or her positions in the organizations for granted. Everywhere risk is involved. There is an element of risk in every aspect of life.
If somebody is talented they should not bother for firing. Anyhow it is not a good practice to deprive their employees from jobs.

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