CEO Returns After Terminating 900 Employees on Zoom
Vishal Garg is the CEO and founder of the startup better.com, an online mortgage company. Just before the holidays in 2021, Vishal terminated 900 employees on a zoom call. You can watch it here.
After giving the ax to 900 employees, he took ‘time off.’ The NY Times reports that he recently returned to the company after spending time with a coach.
Dolphins:
CNN reports that Vishal on another occasion sent an email to staff with the following language. “You are TOO DAMN SLOW. You are a bunch of DUMB DOLPHINS… SO STOP IT. STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE EMBARRASSING ME.”
Dolphins often top the list of most intelligent sea creatures.
Vishal might be smart, but smart people do dumb things.
Zoom termination:
What’s wrong with using Zoom to terminate people? It’s more personal than email.
Don’t be aghast that 900 people were on the call. They were in their own homes. It may feel impersonal, but an individual call from the CEO would have taken approximately 6 weeks to make. (Allowing for 15/20 minutes for each employee.)
Zoom isn’t the problem; lack of empathy and compassion is. (Watch the video if you doubt that.)
Second chances:
People screw up. Second chances are necessary in a world populated by humans. Responsible failure deserves a second chance.
Second chances give us courage to take risks. On the other hand, leaders are responsible for their actions.
I wonder if Vishal deserves a second chance.
Vishal’s actions were a colossal mistake. Does he deserve a second chance? Remember he’s the founder of the company.
If you gave Vishal a second chance, what would you require from him?
Chick-fil-A is the correct spelling 🙂
Thanks Mike.
This is one of the most prominent Mandela Effects. I vividly remember walking by a “Chic-fil-A” dozens, if not hundreds, of times at the mall I used to frequent when growing up. I would make a point of stopping to point out the ridiculous spelling “chic” to my friends. Nowadays, supposedly the spelling has always been “chick”. I’m not buying it. The timeline has changed and some of us remember the way things used to be. Another good one to look into is Dolly from Moonraker. She definitely had braces before, but now you can’t find evidence of that. Weird world we live in.
Thanks for a chuckle this, Warlord. What’s wrong with people?
“Lack of empathy and compassion” is the normal approach when you believe people are just units of production. I mean, nobody has empathy and compassion for photocopiers and drill bits, do they?
Thanks Mitch. Well said. We could use a few more human organizations.
We see this often. Think about employees who have children being forced to make a choice between their children and their livelihood when the employer is not understanding of their need to attend kids’ needs for emergency, sickness, school closure (especially now!) etc. Complete lack of empathy and always “give me” attitude. Highly concerning.
Thanks B., I hear people bragging about their organization when they have flexibility to got to a child’s ball game, for example. I think the concerns that people might take advantage of flexibility are far outweighed by the benefits.
There are some situations where employees might not understand why flexibility isn’t always possible. But transparency seems to be the approach that makes sense.
Empathy and compassion are not even among the top ten considerations of organizations when most decisions are made. Human resources (people, workers) are a cost centre to be rationalized against the bottom line in companies where Accountants occupy the most senior “leadership” positions. In other words, all companies. Numbers do not come with an empathy or compassion component.
Thanks John. When numbers are all that matter, people are tools. The challenge is balancing numbers with human concerns.
Smart organizations value their employees. They will make or break your business. Good employees don’t have to put up with being dehumanized. They’re in demand and will walk.
Thanks Maggie. I’ll add that sometimes good employees are loyal to a fault. They might stay too long.
As with anyone being offered a second chance, I would want to see that he understands that his action was wrong, accepts ownership of his improper action, and is taking concrete steps to avoid similar actions in the future. I am okay if he explains why he did what he did, as long as it is an explanation and not an excuse.
Thanks Jennifer. It all starts with taking responsibility. Blaming blocks growth and weakens connection.
There is no nice and easy way to layoff people. It’s painful. Vishal did say “I don’t want to do this. The last time I did it I cried.”
I strongly believe the Manager of the employee should be the one who informs an employee that he or she is being laid off. A CEO should not be informing 900 people.
I also think an HR rep should be on the call to explain next steps and what if any severance packages are being offered.
Thanks Paul. I wondered if it might have been better to have supervisors notify people. The CEO could send out a video message.
Regarding next steps, my reading indicated that there was severance and benefits mentioned later in the call.
My gut is, I don’t want to hear you say it’s hard for you. I want you thinking about me. It’s one thing to say I’m sorry we have to do this, but I don’t want to hear you talking about yourself. Just a thought.
BTW, if you’re going to do it like Vishal did, then having HR on the call seems like a wonderful suggestion.
My gut says that Vishal does not get a second chance. As the founder of the company or anyone at that level of leadership, like it or not, are held to a higher standard. You don’t get to survive that type of mistake.
My heart says that Vishal does need a second chance. I am reminded of the parable that Jesus told about the unforgiving debtor (Matthew 18:21-35). In my own life I have been forgiven much and shown mercy so who am I to not show mercy?
Vishal would need be confronted about his behaviour and apologize for his rudeness and lack of compassion. He would then begin to serve those whom he is over however that may look and have more accountability. We can help someone with their behaviour even though we cant change them.
“behavior” not “behaviour” and “can not” not “cant”
Please show mercy 🙂
I agree with your thought that the Zoom format is not really the issue. Maybe a more tiered approach of informing supervisors, who then inform employees would have been better. Who knows?
The deeper issue is the arrogance and lack of empathy. I’m guessing he thought that by saying how hard it was to make the decision and, “I don’t want to do this. The last time I did it I cried,” he would check off the empathy requirement. But those statements came across as purely performative. And the the subject of both statements was himself.
This was a high-profile-turned-public situation that I hope we can use to reflect on how performative leadership vs. substantive leadership shows up. This leader needs a substantive shift in the skills of humility and empathy. That is possible. But if he is surrounded by people who will settle for or be fooled by performative leadership, I’ll be glad I don’t work at (the very ironic) better.com.
Jackie–what do you think Vishal should have said to his employees? How could he have shown humility and empathy?
1) If this is the second time you have had to do a mass layoff you need to re-evaluate your expectations and business model. This indicates a failure at the top.
2) Performance is often symptomatic of how people are treated and their perception of leadership. Don’t throw stones while living in a glass house.
3) I bet you expected all of your staff to give you two weeks notice, but you didn’t show them the same courtesy.
If you are the leader you need to learn how to read people and treat them with dignity and respect. They are not disposable. Loyalty has to be earned. Get to know your people. When was the last time you descended from the Corner office to mingle with your staff, not to correct, but to connect. You might be surprised with what that gets you. What are your expectations of your upper and middle management? Performance issues at the bottom are often a result of poor management at the mid and upper level management. Are you holding them accountable? I suspect not. They reflect you. Check your ego at the door and surround yourself with people that are smarter than you. You obviously feel that you are the smartest in the me room, which proves the shallowness of your character. Unless you make substantial changes, I would never do business with you.