Disturbing Incidents!

When you are a recruitment manager, the most difficult part of the job is being asked to terminate or dismiss an employee. It is indeed a tough situation, but it is part of your core responsibilities; you cannot refuse. However, how you handle the situation is what truly matters.

I once served as a recruitment manager and was tasked with terminating the services of dozens of employees to reduce the payroll budget. To manage this, I adopted a strategy of not dismissing everyone at once, but rather limiting the number of terminations each week. I would summon each employee, thank them for their long service with us, and inform them that the organization no longer required their services. However, I would offer them three months’ salary in advance and allow them a six-month grace period to remain in the country while they secured a new sponsor. In this way, they would leave in a psychologically acceptable state. Thus, dozens of employees were let go without the others noticing or work being disrupted.

You may feel angry and suffer psychologically after being dismissed. Conversely, new doors to better livelihoods may open before you.

I recall a time when we terminated the services of a simple laborer. Shortly after, a manager who worked with us and was related to that employee entered my office. I began to regret the decision, as it was an administrative choice, not mine. However, he smiled and said, “No, I want to thank you. When he left your company, he secured a better job with a higher salary.”

One day, a Kuwaiti employee came to me to resign. I tried to dissuade him from leaving, but he refused. A few years later, he entered the field of self-employment, achieving successive successes and accumulating millions in wealth, despite having an educational qualification below the secondary level.

In the 1990s, I attended a course on the basics of administrative work in Geneva, Switzerland. Many participants from different nationalities—American, European, and Arab—were present.

During the course, I discovered various methods for handling terminations. For instance, we had a young trainee whose position was unstable. I learned that his manager had requested his dismissal, but the company did not agree. Instead, they sent him to this course and accompanied him with another employee who did not know him, to evaluate his level, write a report, and submit it to management.

An American participant told us that the company he worked for wanted to dismiss a manager but was unsure which one, as there were two candidates. Management sent both managers on a three-day business trip together, neither knowing what was happening. Afterward, each wrote a report on which of the two was more suitable to remain.

In America and Europe, if a company is forced to terminate several employees, it simply sends their names to recruitment agencies, with the full knowledge of each employee, thereby providing them with job opportunities elsewhere.

I write about this topic following a recent misstep by a government entity, which leaked news of the termination of more than 7,000 teachers. We must emphasize that the employment contract is between the employee and the institution, and the general public should not be involved. The names were leaked to social media, which is an even greater failure.