Termination of employment is becoming more and more common these days as companies try to down size. Different employers make use of different methods to terminate employment. Some are transparent, while others are shady and underhanded.
Lionel (not his real name), an alumnus of NUS science who had graduated 6 years ago, recounts his experience of being the victim of an underhanded tactic his direct boss used to terminate his employment.
What company was that?
It was a science-related company
How was the company like?
It was a small company, but has offices all over the world from the Asia-Pacific to North America and Europe.
How long were you with the company?
More than a year
How would you rate your job satisfaction?
I rated my job satisfaction highly. Unlike my friends with science degrees who ended up in non-related fields, I considered myself fortunate to find work with a company whose focus is relevant to my degree. I definitely enjoyed being in touch with the latest developments in the scientific field, which was part and parcel of my job.
What were the circumstances leading to your termination?
It came during the annual performance review for 2008 which was a standard operating procedure in my company. When my report came, I was stunned at its contents. There were fictitious accounts justifying my poor performance. Some of the accounts bothered on defamation, and were direct assaults on my character. The report was drawn up by my direct boss.
Give examples of such fictitious accounts.
One allegation was a description of my negative reaction towards an external agency whom my company hired for certain projects. In certain areas of work, we required inputs from these hired agencies. In my case, I never ever had to rely on their inputs. The negative reaction was displayed by another colleague in my department, and it wasn’t by me. I managed to deliver the project without any input from the agency right on schedule. So there was no reason to react negatively. And what happened was that the agency encountered problems which meant we could not receive their inputs on time, and thus, we would not be in a position to deliver the project on time if we were to rely on the agency. But I delivered the project,so there is no reason for me to be negative towards the hired agency. I have always treated external agencies in a diplomatic fashion and to report that I was negative towards them was too much!
The second was an allegation of the poor quality of work I produced for a certain category of project. I had kept a log of all the projects that I had done, but there wasn’t one that fell into the alleged category.
What was your opinion of your boss on hindsight?
I can summarize her with one statement – management is never her strength. I found from working with her that her knowledge in legal compliance for certain procedures is sorely lacking. There was an instance when she told me to do something, but I refused because it might potentially contravene one of the legal acts of Singapore. Look, no one wants to get on the wrong end of the law, and I rather give up the job than get on the wrong end of the law. My direct boss also reported this instance to back up her criticism of me in the annual report of my performance, citing my stubborn attitude. But, any reasonable manager would demonstrate understanding towards subordinates who reacted as I did due to the fact that I was the overall overseer of the project, and this was captured in black and white. The fact that she used such an incident as a criticism of me in her evaluation betrayed her lack of objectivity.
And I find her very self-centered. Even her subordinates had to sing her tune. I did that too because I was under her. The only time I didn’t sing her tune was the previously mentioned incident about me refusing to implement one of her orders because that might contravene our laws. Her definition of quality is simply whether she agrees or disagrees to something. Interestingly, when managers of the same level as her looked at her work, they gave criticisms on its lack of quality, and this email was circulated to us subordinates! Maybe, when she called others stubborn, she didn’t use a mirror.
What was your reaction over your annual performance report?
Of course, I felt hard done by. And as a matter of curiosity, I sought the opinion of friends who were trained in the legal field. Actually, I did have grounds for legal recourse. But I didn’t see the point in taking such an action. Rather, I thanked my direct boss for her feedback and gave an assurance of my improved performance at that time.
Were you prepared for your termination?
To tell the truth, I was. Nearly 10 of my colleagues went before me. And there was circulation of news that my company would be sold after the onset of the current economic crisis. But during this crisis, no one wanted to buy the company, which was why I suspect they would down size to stay afloat, which explained the departure of my colleagues, and subsequently myself.
Have you ever suspected that your 2008 performance report would be used as a basis for your termination?
Yes. After receiving the report, one of the first things I did was to go online and research on “termination due to alleged poor performance”. What I learnt was that some companies used poor performance as an excuse to create a “paper trail”, which subsequently led to termination. And such allegations of poor performance can be spurious, like in my case.
Describe your termination meeting.
I was called into the office of the overall director of my company. The overall director is responsible for our Singapore operations and is above my direct boss. Our HR executive was also present. My direct boss was the one who communicated to me my termination. The reasons read out to me were the same as my annual report for 2008. Of course, I was incensed. At that point of time, my direct boss fired a “Scud” into my backyard. I decided to redress the injustices and retaliated. I addressed all her criticisms and pointed out her incompetencies in the presence of the overall director and HR.
When she alleged I was stubborn, I simply counter-attacked that I had to stick by my guns because the procedure she told me to implement showed her lack of knowledge of our laws, and I emphasized this to the overall director and HR.
And when she said I performed poorly in a particular project category, I asked her to name the specific project. She couldn’t.
And when she criticized me over my negative reactions towards the external agency, I clarified that it was another colleague of mine who reacted. And I emphasized that I held no opinion of the agency because at no point of time did I rely on their input. More importantly, I told the overall director that I delivered on the project without relying on the external agency which my direct boss had hired, and without affecting my productivity. This was to hammer home the point that my direct boss had no idea on how to run the business profitably since hiring the external agency would lead to more expenditure.
Do you think your highlighting of your direct boss’ incompetency in the presence of her boss and HR would affect her?
Frankly, I was not bothered. I just wanted to redress injustice and that was the best occasion – in front of her boss and HR. Besides, I was about to go anyway, so I figure it would be best to go out with a bang, the banging of my Scud’s explosion in her backyard.
On hindsight, what do you think your direct boss should have done?
I guess she has to be honest and tell me upfront about the plans to down size. Even if she wanted to terminate me on performance grounds, a reasonable excuse would be my failure to live up to her impossibly high standards instead of coming up with fictitious scenarios to justify my poor performance. No one likes liars.
How did you felt after the termination meeting?
I felt a huge burden being lifted off my chest. I was really disturbed by the contents of annual report, which turned out to be the justifications of my termination. I actually felt much better after redressing the injustices.
What have you been doing now that you have lost your job?
I am helping a relative in his business, and I am doing freelance consultancy work, in the field of science and engineering of course.
What lessons have you learnt from this episode?
That certain employers can use underhanded tactics to terminate employees, and I suspect I am not the only one who suffer such an injustice.
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