My favorite example of why managers fire good workers:
- You are a manager of a team of 4
- You hear layoffs are coming
- You have one amazing direct report, 2 just ok and 1 awful
Who do you fire?
Most people say "Of course, fire the awful person"
I say: "When this actually happened, the manager fired their best person"
Other: "But, but why? That's not fair!"
Me: "You know layoffs are coming. You are the most expensive person on the team. If you fire the awful person there may be questions about why you even hired them. They then fire you and keep your amazing person as the manager (probably for less money).
You fire your best person, well then now you as the manager are the best person AND you can make the argument that that awful person needs 'more managing to be effective'"
It's not pretty or noble or heartwarming but this is how the logic goes in a lot of big firms (especially around layoff season).
- You are a manager of a team of 4
- You hear layoffs are coming
- You have one amazing direct report, 2 just ok and 1 awful
Who do you fire?
Most people say "Of course, fire the awful person"
I say: "When this actually happened, the manager fired their best person"
Other: "But, but why? That's not fair!"
Me: "You know layoffs are coming. You are the most expensive person on the team. If you fire the awful person there may be questions about why you even hired them. They then fire you and keep your amazing person as the manager (probably for less money).
You fire your best person, well then now you as the manager are the best person AND you can make the argument that that awful person needs 'more managing to be effective'"
It's not pretty or noble or heartwarming but this is how the logic goes in a lot of big firms (especially around layoff season).