Huge Mistakes That Can't Be Recovered From - Allow Them to Resign or Fire Fast?

Employee makes a HUGE mistake, one that no one can recover from.  If you're a leader and everyone is watching, do you move quickly to fire the individual, or do you investigate and ratchet up the pressure for them to resign to make your job easier.

There are few mistakes in life that you can't recover from.  As reported last week, buzzing Manhattan with a jumbo jet chased by a fighter jet in a post 9/11 world is one of the things that meets the standard.  Just ask Louis Caldera of the Obama white house. 

More from the New York Times:

"The photo shoot of Air Force One soaring above the Statue of Liberty cost taxpayers $328,835. Now the incident, which incited panic among scores of people in New York City, has cost the director of the White House Military Office his job.

The director, Louis Caldera, who was appointed by President Obama to the White House post and had been a secretary of the Army in the Clinton administration, resigned on Friday for his role in approving the April 27 flyover. In a brief letter to Mr. Obama, Mr. Caldera said that the matter “has become a distraction for the important work you are doing as president.”

The White House released the resignation letter and a seven-page review of how the flyover was planned by several government agencies without anyone raising caution flags that the flight could spark fears of another terrorist attack in Lower Manhattan. A photograph of the plane, flying low above New York Harbor, also was released on Friday by the White House.

The president, who did not know about the flight before it took place and was described by aides as infuriated by it, directed his deputy chief of staff, Jim Messina, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates “to make recommendations to him to ensure that such an incident never occurs again,” said Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary."

So the question remains: Someone on your team belches one of those GROSS (all caps for affect) negligence decisions that explodes, what do you do?  Do you confirm that he's the guy responsible and fire fast, or do you pledge to investigate and maybe just turn up the pressure on him to resign, so you don't have to take action?

Pick one and hit me in the comments. PS - if we buzz Manhattan and spend 300 large, I need a better photo than a jet over New Jersey (the only photo from the shoot released appears above).  I better get Manhattan in the background for that amount of cash. Maybe even a big Aircraft Carrier in the harbor in front of the city for the trouble. 

Jersey?  Really?  Nice Light Industrial area in the background...

Fire Fast or death of a thousand cuts until the guy resigns? 

Comments

[Michael D. Haberman, SPHR]

I once had a young foreman who had a great future in supervision. One night, after his shift, he went to the maintenance department to make a BBQ grill out of a 55 gallon drum. He should not have been doing that and especially should not have used the drum he used. It has held solvent based adhesive. When he started cutting with a torch it blew up, actually blew up. In a plant that used solvents that could have burned the entire plant to the ground.

We fired him the next day, despite his promise. We could not have a future leader doing something so stupid.

[John]

Christ a 14 year old with basic CAD knowledge could have knocked up that photo shot in a couple of minutes, saved the idiot his job, saved on carbon footprints, not scared half of NY and had more money in the coffers to bail the banks out.

[Diane Biersteker]

Suspend first, investigate and then discharge.  Timespan should be less than one week.  Makes a firm statement to other employees, especially in regards to offensive workplace behavior or sexual harassment.  In these cases, I will take the risk of "over-reacting" anytime instead of under-reacting.  Although we still cover ourselves by offering a minor severance package that is just enough to get them to sign the general release and waiver of all claims.

[Brian]

I believe this is a part of the leadership spectrum that tends to be avoided because it requires tough, difficult and sometimes career altering decisions. As I saw it, this was undoubtedly a "heads are going to roll" incident. It was our generation's version of yelling "fire" in a movie theater. It was a clear demonstration of egregiously poor decision making requiring management to review policies and procedures to ensure the risk of such future decision making is reduced or eliminated. I would imagine that behind the scenes Caldera was forced to resign. So why not let the position of the President be known that he asked for the resignation vs. let it come to his door step? Being early in his Presidency, Obama should insist on as well as demonstrate personal accountability of same page leadership. In the end it may have sent a message that he is soft on the tougher, not so glamorous aspects of his executive team leadership skills.

btw...if the best pic of the bunch required using New Jersey as the back drop...maybe that's a reason to continue the argument that the Statue of Liberty should actually be a piece of NJ property!

Brian (from NJ)

[Geronimo]

At least in California, if the company makes the decision, the employee's submission of a "resignation" has little effect under employment law. The law turns on whether the employee "had the option to continue working for the organization." If not, the company was the moving party.

Cosmetic resignations were something we accepted if tendered, at the S&P 500 company where I ran the HR function for 20 years. We'd rather do that than get in a wrangle about the ins and outs and appearances of declining such a communication from an employee. But, I always told the employee forthrightly that her / his resignation after receiving notice of termination didn't have any effect. If we decided the employee couldn't stay, we ginned up the appropriate diligence, documented it, and took responsibility for our decision. We also had a conservative reference policy, so possible future employers couldn't get from us whether the employee or the company was the moving party.

Public sector employees seem to have a bunch of Byzantine practices such as cabinet members submitting resignations en masse at a change of administration, which the new elective / appointive boss accepts or rejects. It's a different world if you are in government, especially if you've created negative press for your agency. Just speaking as a citizen, I'd be much happier with how tax dollars are used if the agency took considered-but-prompt action, and claimed responsibility for being the moving party. Collaborating with an employee who has created a liability, and accepting a face-saving resignation is a bad practice, subject to lots of post facto failure modes.

[Ajlouny]

I have experienced companies that don't like the mess of firing, and give the option of a resignation. "Leaving with dignity", and giving the impression of a voluntary resignation. Makes their next job search easier and doesn't leave bad feelings where there can be a "postal" reaction.

[Coach HR]

For my two cents, most times we just get rid of the leader. The really sad thing is as the public we'll never know the rest of the story. Like was there anyone who mentioned public safety issues or that they could have used Photo Shop and achieved the same results?

In all the noise on this let's hope the new administration will take a moment to find out why new ideas weren't on the table or didn't get any air time.

Changing your results means changing your thinking and changing your behavior. Let's hope the firing added more value than just satisfying the public's need for justice.

Denise Cooper