E-mail, the new face of firing

Employees knew that the cuts were coming and that they initially would be notified electronically, but some experts questioned the procedure.

“Traditionally in Texas, people are dismissed in a face-to-face meeting,” said Frank McLaughlin, chairman of McSearch Personnel Consul-tants in Dallas. “It’s not customary, not socially acceptable to some to do it over e-mail, but it’s legal.”

Dr Derrick D’Souza, professor of management and associate dean at the University of North Texas Col-lege of Business Administration, said getting the news via e-mail might be viewed negatively, “if it’s not part of the company’s standard operating procedure and culture.”

“It’s a critical event communicated through a routine method of day-to-day correspondence,” he said. On August 10 RadioShack told em-ployees that it would reduce its workforce by 400 to 450 jobs. In a series of meetings, company officials ex-plained the method of layoff notification would be e-mail, said RadioShack spokeswoman Kay Jackson.

The company ex-plained the procedure and invited employees to ask questions ahead of Tuesday’s notification through RadioShack’s intranet site.

“We wanted to treat our employees with as much dignity and respect as possible,” Jackson said.

“It’s a difficult thing to do, and everyone will have a different opinion on how to do it. “To be open and have constant communication, whether you’re impacted or not, was the right thing to do,” she said.

E-mails were sent out by 8.45 am. About 30 minutes later, employees met with their supervisors, she said. That was followed by a meeting with human resources and outplacement-service representatives.

Other companies that recently had significant staff cuts said they communicate the old-fashioned way. Blockbuster spokes-man Randy Hargrove said recent layoffs at its Dallas corporate headquarters were done face-to-face.

“It’s our notification procedure to have a supervisor sit down with each employee,” he said.

Likewise at Plano-based EDS, “the direct supervisor has a face-to-face meeting with each employee,” said spokeswoman Liz Bonet.

Although Radio-Shack employees knew the e-mails were coming, D’Souza said, companies should be careful not to dehumanise the process and treat employees as machines in a digital society.