Section Fourto feel secure in their jobs, committed to the company, capable
of taking reasonable risks, and deserving of their loyalty. In the
absence of such an approach, the company will not have a
performance culture, nor will it have employee commitment.
Interestingly, experienced outplacement consultants have
observed that managerial terminations are usually due to
personality-related conflicts with the terminated employee’s
manager. In contrast, fewer than 5 percent of managerial
terminations are based on the grounds of incompetence.^78
In terminating unsatisfactory performers, U.S. employers
have an advantage over many European competitors in that
they have much greater latitude. For example, in Italy,
governmental regulations require an employer to pay up to
$130,000 in benefits to terminate an employee 45 years of age
who has been employed for 20 years. Termination costs are not
as expensive in all European countries as the cost in Ireland
would be $13,000 under the same circumstances.^79
Unfortunately, even with an appropriate balance between
employment security and the maintenance of performance and
behavioral standards, the implementation of such balanced
termination strategies often leaves much to be desired. In
recent years, terminations have been conducted too frequently
with little regard for the dignity of the employee. Employees
are frequently told of the termination and escorted by security