When I look back at people I’ve had to fire, I always tried to think about their dignity. There are few things that are more humiliating that being told, “you’re not cutting it around here.”
It cuts to a person’s deepest self-worth.
It lowers their image.
It can be destructive.
But, terminating an employee sometimes just has to be done.
It’s how we do it that separates the Red Letter Believer from the others who dominate the secular business world.
Kay Martin, of Thrive Christian, suggested that usually people quit before they are fired. They know that things aren’t working out either. It’s usually not a surprise to anyone. So sometimes, it’s just an agreement.
Randy Kilgore, who is the shepherd behind Made to Matter, suggests thats the termination process is part of our extended adamic-biblical mandate to “tend to creation.” Part of that process in Adam’s workplace meant cutting away the deadwood, pruning the flowers, and pulling the weeds. All of these metaphors can extend to our modern business environment.
But here’s our question — “how do you pull out a weed in a loving, godly manner?”
Got any ideas? Post them here.
Read all past issues at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davidrupert
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In