I can't help looking sad. I'm a stick figure.
Debate of the day: Should bosses fire unhappy workers?
I stumbled upon a post in the New York Times called ‘The Secret to Having Happy Employees’ by ‘Your the Boss’ blogger and Chicago entrepreneur Jay Goltz. His solution was to fire unhappy employees to achieve a happier and, therefore, more productive workteam.
Besides my initial reaction of “Oh boy, another insane fanatic who doesn’t care about managerial accountability,” I found the reader’s comment more incredulous. Some zealously wrote, “Fire Away!” and were completely gung ho about getting rid of unhappy workers. One reader, who I assume has some kind of high position, said it gave her “hope” in future hiring processes.
If the world was run by people who just got rid of unhappy people, they are committing a big sin of JOBOCIDE, which is UNHAPPY WORKERS + GENOCIDE = WIPING OUT THE UNHAPPY. Depending on the day, that could be you. Or everybody. But thank goodness Aristotle’s lessons of reason still exists.
Readers that were a little more logical and constitutional, brought up the illegality of firing unhappy people and whether an unhappy employee is the reflection of the boss instead of the worker. And others said that firing unhappy employees only leaves you with fake people pretending to like you and the company, when in actuality they are operating in fear.
A counter article called ‘Fire Unhappy Employees? Wait a minute’ by John Hollen, writer for Chicago Business, spelled out all things wrong with firing people for unhappiness, my favorite being:
This reminds me of the Monty Python skit where all the people of the kingdom in The Happy Valley are happy because anyone that was unhappy was put to death under the Happiness Act. May all your employees be hung by the neck until they cheer up.”
How productive is this Macchiavellian approach to managing people? In this recession, I can imagine that a lot of people are unhappy at their jobs, are being poorly treated and taken advantage of because of the crisis and aren’t being recognized for their value. I mean, there are no laws to protect exempt employees, meaning executives, anyone dealing with business operations (kind of vague), and administration from working “reasonable” overtime (again, kind of vague).
Obsolete When All Are Employed WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Speak up for your rights!
Love,
Tiff
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Hmmm…fire unhappy workers? That’s just dumb because happiness is relative. You have to be happier than your boss to keep your job? I don’t think I would enjoy firing anyone- who fires anyone with a smile on their face. That’s just mean. And wouldn’t it affect the morale of existing workers? Wouldn’t they just worry about whether or not they… See More are considered “happy” enough? Of course the team would be more productive, they have to take on the tasks of the just fired co-worker and afraid they might get fired if they complained.
firing unhappy workers is the solution of the weak and diseased. we naturally become unhappy around people with bad energy. so bosses with bad energy and poor communication skills can only see unhappy employees. they don’t see any solution to the unhappiness because they are often creating the unhappiness, like a contagious disease in the workplace. unhappiness can be cured easily by a good supervisor. good supervisors do not come up with the idea to fire the unhappy. great post!
Those people firing unhappy employees because they don’t know they are the cause of making employees unhappy, and this act only leads company to worse performance and less business as the quality of the results would only get lower after firing and laying off people. Managers who supports firing “unhappy employees” are not good communicators, don’t know what quality management is at all, or lacking mercy and grace (the kind that Jesus taught) when developing their employees, or even don’t know they have the responsibility to develop employees; or….they just don’t want to face their own problems, and fire the unhappy employees so no one reminds them that it’s their short-coming of not being able to keep employees happy.
Firing unhappy employees, especially the skilled ones, only hurt the business, because you are going to definitely lose quality in your product, service or results….It’s really sad, and I am going to say the following statements even though I know lots of people might say I am “extreme”. I honestly think that whoever doesn’t have Jesus as the Lord tends to be a bad manager, as they don’t have the best teacher to guide them on how to lead people, how to shepherd others and develop or release others’ potentials without jealousy.
Though it’s a sad situation, I do have hope in God. I don’t hate those people who are bad managers, I don’t hate those who make bad decisions in firing unhappy employees, as only forgiveness can resolve problems. I forgive them, and pray that they receive Christ as their Lord, as their best teacher in every thing in their work and all areas in life, and spread and overflow the joy from God to everyone around them including employees.
I would like to say “wow” what a inspiring post. This is really great. Keep doing what you’re doing!!