This dilemma began last October. One of our senior employees had developed friction with the founders. Complaints, objections, delays, and pushbacks started emerging. We were on a trip to Mumbai and discussing the key focus areas. Out of the blue, as we were unpacking and getting ready for our first meeting of the day, he pointed out this employee and said we should fire her. The employee reported to me.
I had my challenges with this employee. At the heart of it, she was loyal and committed to work. But she was doing just enough. We felt that she wore a cynical face during key meetings – highly visible interactions, and put out ill-timed snarky comments. Yet, my gut backed me, saying that a person might be going through a bad phase. I consulted with one of my friends, who happened to be my investor. He knew her; so he suggested to wait and watch.
She insisted on work-life balance when there was no necessity – the simple reason, she turned up at work late and left early. I would not get responses for simple tasks but key to my progress. She had public exchanges with my other partners, resulting in them avoiding her altogether.
Yet, when I spoke to the team that reported to her, they were all positive. She had given them clear key result areas and ensured that their performance was tracked. She had recruited them afresh and then they executed the process that I had designed. Some of our partners were unhappy about the quality, but I attributed that to a first-time team.
Then, I handed over the next project with her in complete control. After a couple of weeks, there was no progress. Only silence. I felt let down, and I saw that my partners were right about letting her go. Yet, I waited – the New Year was coming, and there was a buzz with our newfound mojo – we had lost a major investor that set us back completely, but we rallied back to moving forward.
Again, my partner who asked me to fire her called a couple of weeks ago. ‘You should let her go. She is trouble. But again, it is your call.’ I took a long breath and told him that I had trust in her as that was the only way she could come back. She was fine in the short calls that I had just before the New Year.
“How many times did you figure on firing me?”
Pat Rin yos’ Phelium sighed. “Refresh my memory, Mr. McFarland. How many times have I succeeded in firing you thus far?”
― Sharon Lee, I Dare
It is hard to admit that she has occupied my mind since October because a lot of my work had to factor in her ‘availability’ and I had to be a lot more patient in my response. Mentally, I would have fired her a lot of times, but in reality, I was trying to hold my calm and give her the pep talk. I told her that she was the key to our success and the bridge between the directors and the team. I recalled how we saw her leading the operations of our Venture Capital fund.
She always had a cynical view of our vision and leadership – I had observed but kept my response in abeyance. I was trying to look at the good in her. Still, I could once in a while burst out, because I hate entitled people – I had fired a partner just for that quality – but I was tolerant of her because I still saw the good in her.
Then came the day, when I scheduled a review call. It was supposed to be a 30-minute call, but it ended up going three hours. The agenda had already been stated – weekly report and plan were missing, and no progress had been made since November end on the new project she was to run.
Just before the call, there was another call from my friend. ‘What is this, Ashok?’ He sounded angry and frustrated. This was a long pending call between her and him, and he was trying to schedule the call. He was advising her on the new project. ‘She said that I am only available from 9 to 5, Monday to Friday.’ She told him with full knowledge that he was one of our leading investors and her advisor, and he could only work in the late evenings because of his commitments. ‘If it is late hours, you talk to Ashok.’ That was me, her supervisor, and the managing partner of our business. I promised him that I would address this.
Back to that call, she started arguing and talked about her ‘work-life balance’ when there was no progress at work. She asked for a hike. I said I would come down for a performance review. Imagine my surprise when she just remembered that she had a friend who was critically ill and had to go to another state, and won’t be available. I said that it was fine and that we could connect if I needed anything.
Then the next day, the day before my trip to my office, I got her resignation email. We deliberated and decided to relieve her immediately. The inevitable post-mortem happened among partners. From ‘I told you so’ to ‘You were too soft’ – I listened to all the comments. In a sense, they were right.
I met the team, and took over the operational control, and then returned to the city where I reside. On my way back, I wondered what could have been done right. First, it turned out to be a wrong hire. If there is no aspirational approach to work, then the person is the wrong person for the job. Second, if the person is exhibiting cynicism and a bad attitude, it is untenable to work with. The team exhibited concerns because, for them, she was good. I acknowledged her good work with the team, but the other attributes that were needed for her effective contribution were simply not there. Third, when you fire, fire fast. Fourth, it challenged my principle of being nice and trusting for the first time. My impeccable record as a senior was dented. I would never be able to erase that.
My theories of looking for a female candidate for this role have been since challenged, but I have held my faith in my vision for that role. After all, we had prolonged a bad deal, and I – we could not let that hang over our views of gender. I have heard stereotypical comments, but I believe in my cause and would stay the course.
