CEO admits to firing top employee over ‘off attitude’, sparks debate: ‘The easiest way out’
A California CEO fired a top performer due to a perceived negative attitude, despite strong performance.
People are usually get fired for poor performance or not folloing company policies or adapt to changes in the workplace. However, one California CEO claimed he fired his "top performer" only because they displayed an attitude that seemed "off".
Mina Elias, the founder and CEO of Trivium Group, recently shared in a LinkedIn post that he decided to layoff one of his best employees because he did not appreciate their attitude.
"I once fired a top performer not because they weren’t good because their fire was gone. Here’s why: The numbers were there, but the attitude was off. The skills were strong, but the drive was fading. The impact was shrinking, and so was the ROI," he said.
Read the full post here:
Elias took the unconventional decision because he claimed that a company's growth requires hard decisions. "Keeping someone just because they were great once is bad leadership. Would you let go of a high performer who lost their edge?" he asked.
The post sparked a debate about whether attitude and motivation should outweigh performance in the workplace. Some professionals agreed with the CEO, arguing that a lack of passion and drive can negatively impact a team, even if an employee's results are strong. Others, however, criticised him for basing his decisions on attitude rather than results.
"I agree that growth requires tough decisions, but I also believe true leadership lies in keeping high performers engaged and challenged, rather than seeing firing as the easiest way out," said one of them.
Another user said, "You did not invest into this person, did not even look into the reasons behind the behavioural change. I bet the problem was that they did not read your Slack messages at 1AM."
The CEO added that he tried to "reignite that passion" of the employee through conversations but it became clear that "no matter the effort, the motivation was simply no longer there."
(Also read: ‘Not immediately’: Byju Raveendran’s response to disgruntled employee over unpaid salary)
