I am not a number

Sam had been looking for a job for months now, when he finally got the offer he was so happy!! What a feeling, all his doubts worries washed away in a second. The fear, and self doubt that had chased him for months was replaced with that long forgotten sense of self worth, pride and peace, finally able to provide to his family, and do what he did best in the company of his dreams, he would never forget that warm welcome by his boss, his Team and the HR people! the goody bag with a notebook, a pen, a t-shirt so he could proudly represent his new Brand, his new company. Things were idillic for several moths, even years, he added great value, got the best training, got to join the most fun and rewarding company events, he felt he could talk to his boss and team about everything. Every Performance review was filled with recognition and so many new things to learn.

everything was amazing.

Until it was not, one day, one dreadful day where he decided to open his mouth, he should have not, he now realized. All he did was following the company credo: being authentic, honest and open, he spoke his mind, he did not agree with his boss and said it, he raised his hand and oppose an idea , why was that so wrong? he followed all the protocol, he gave solutions, he was kind and empathic, he did it privately, after all that was what the job description clearly stated, "someone that can challenge the status quo" but they were totally against his bosses. From that day on he started feeling more and more ignored.

One day, he was called in the middle of the pandemic to the office, his boss was late, 20 minutes after the called time the boss told him he was not longer needed, coldly.

Several days he received a cold e-mail from the HR guys, once so happy and helpful today totally cold and harsh. Come by in 2 days at 9 to pick up the check at our attorneys office, if you do not properly return all the equipment you will not have the check, He had an interview that had to be cancelled of course, you cannot change the hour, no flexibility. Not a good bye mail by his boss, or co-workers whose facebook and linkedin pages where filled with pics of his wonderful leadership and fun activities to improve the culture, nothing...

We are just numbers he said... it is what it is.

But we are not.

Do not get me wrong, I have been in HR for over 20 years now and I truly understand the need to take difficult decisions regarding our people, sometimes it is not about performance, sometimes structures change, leadership styles change, culture and needs change and we no longer need some of our people, that is understandable, but why do we invest so much in recruitment, employer branding, team building, training and development and then disregard the basics of empathy , respect and kindness people need so desperately when they are fired. We are not numbers, and employer branding should be cared after even when we are not longer needed, some companies need to walk the talk.