I watched a colleague being laid off from his job after investing 14 years of his life in the company, never to be returned.

He was well-liked, well-respected, kind, always went out of his way to help others, always took part in community support, was always the on-call photographer for the company (of course at no cost) whenever they needed one, always went the extra mile, and he was good at his job too.

I must add, at his job he was thrown many responsibilities, out of which there were a couple that he has found difficult to catch up with and underperformed in them, mainly due to the way his personality was. #culturalcompatibility

But surely, this is recognisable by any leader, that not every individual has the same personality, character traits and strengths,

Am I wrong to think that it is an organisation’s responsibility to help employees thrive as supposed to getting rid of them when they don’t tick one box out of many?

Would it not be wonderful to explore employees strengths and enhance those as supposed to focus on their weaknesses and take advantage of knowing them to negatively impact them, their lives and their future.

Is it the right attitude to dismiss people without considering the emotional impact and crisis that it can cause. Employees after undergoing such shocks, experience a range of emotions, including stress, sadness, loss and fear. It’s heartbreaking. Do employees even acknowledge that?

Do they offer moral and emotional support to these people who invest 10-12 hours of their day in the company for ONE reason only, to keep their employees happy! To keep the company drive to success!

Does management ever think about these individuals as PEOPLE or are they just NUMBERS to them?

Does empathy no longer exist? These people have families to support, obligations, financial commitments!

Do they even try to find out the root cause of the problem? Or the management just ASSUME that they know…..

In this particular case, being an Intercultural Expert, I know that the majority of the issue between my colleague and his manager(s) was due to cultural differences #culturaldifferences.

Evidently, cultural understanding, intelligence and capitalising on it, it’s not a matter of luxury and a ‘good to have’ for organisations.

It’s a MUST HAVE for every corporation to help them make smarter business decisions, also to avoid destroying an individual’s career and personal lives.

This wasn’t the first time I witnessed this in my corporate working life.

A couple of years ago, a similar scenario led to my colleague losing his life, to stress imposed on him after he was laid off.

When I see such cases, it sickens me that US (so-called human) are extremely distance from what is called HUMANITY!

So quick to terminate and avoid issues as supposed to face and fix them. Thinking that is the right solution.

“IT IS NOT ENOUGH to keep saying our PEOPLE are our most VALUABLE asset” but in reality portraying and acting in a totally different manner!

Where are those valuable people? only those in the board rooms? only those with certain social status? on certain packages? With certain job titles? on the golf courses or first-class business lounges? Are those the only ones that are valuable! What exactly are the rest of us!!!

To all people who has a colleague losing a job or lost a job, I encourage you to:

1)   Acknowledge their feeling. Suppression never works; it makes it worse. Acknowledge that it is legitimate to feel sad about the fact they are losing their job. Allow them and encourage them to feel it and to express it.”

2)   After a layoff or buyout, it’s common for any person who’s been let go to feel embarrassed and ashamed. Be thoughtful about their emotions and what they are going through but keep validating the fact to them that a job does not define who they are. A job really is JUST a job. This is not a trauma, this is just a phase of life that will pass pretty soon.

3)   Be a pillar of support. Be there for them and if you can help and introduce them to others who may be able to help them. If they agree, even organize a Goodbye party for them. After so many years, let them feel valued. Let them feel that they may no longer have the job but they still have their friends. “They may well appreciate that kind of attention from their peers,”

4)   Stay connected. Sometimes the way to manage the loss is to get together every so often after that person leaves and keep them feeling like part of a family.

And always be aware and reminded that no one’s job is safe. Whether from a layoff, retirement or moving to another job, we will part ways eventually.

So enjoy being together today, spend your time in the office wisely, learn as much as you can and be very selective with whom you spend most of your time with. Spend it with those that have the potential of being lifelong friends; otherwise, if you are terminated tomorrow, all your time in that office would have been a total waste.