Last week on Does Someone Have to Go, the employees of True Home Value were faced with three tough decisions including whether or not to fire an employee with a drinking problem. This week, three employees had to stand in front of their peers and plead to keep their jobs. Time to see how it all turned out. The three employees up for termination are Matt, Sharon and Mark.
Matt is responsible for recruiting neighborhood canvassers. It’s a very tough job, but his co-workers want to hear him take responsibility for his failures.
Mark, the Director of Marketing is unapproachable and disrespectful to the employees. He’s going to have a hard time talking his way out of that label.
Sharon the office manager has a drinking problem and the staff want her to admit it in order to keep her job.
Time for the Pleas
Matt surprises the group by admitting that the trouble with his department lies squarely on him. That begins to turn the tide in his favor but then he makes a bad mistake. Everyone thinks he’s going to quit his job as soon as he passes the bar exam but he says he has no intention of ever leaving True Home Value.
That makes no sense. Why would you work to get a law degree then continue working as a sales manager at a home improvement company? His co-workers aren’t even buying what he’s selling.
Mark comes in calm and professional, saying that he’s disappointed that the workers feel like they can’t come to him. Good start. Then he goes off on a weird rant about baseball player Ty Cobb. He brings it back around saying that he’s broken records, too but he doesn’t say what they were. He wraps by saying that they have an important decision to make about his future and theirs. He might have made it out okay, but when Krystal asks a question, he shoots her down and basically calls her stupid.
Bad move. Mark walks away confident that he’s done enough to keep his job but he actually turned more people against him.
Sharon brings the room to tears with a truthful statement about how anger and depression over events in her personal life have made her a different person. But when her co-workers raise the question about her drinking, she flatly denies it. One by one the staff members bring up incidents that happened at work and in front of customers, and when they address their personal fears for her safety she won’t listen.
Does Someone Have To Go?
When CEO Larry returns he not only doesn’t seem surprised by who is in the bottom three, he actually looks a little amused. He stands behind the rest of his staff, literally and figuratively as they hand out the verdicts.
Matt: The employees say they believe that he wants to change so they give him 90 days to bring up his numbers. If they see improvement at the end of the probation period, he gets to keep his job.
Mark: In an unusual twist, CEO Larry jumps in to say that he’s been unhappy with Mark’s performance and attitude for awhile now. That makes Mark squirm for the first time but he’s saved by his co-workers – on two conditions. First, he must work with a management coach. The company will pay 50 percent and he has to pay the other half out of his own pocket. He also has to attend a monthly staff meeting where the staff gets to speak openly without reprisals.
Mark agrees to both conditions.
Sharon: The employees give her a stern ultimatum. She must seek proffessional help or she will be terminated. CEO Larry even agrees to pay her salary while she’s on leave, so she doesn’t have bear the financial burden. As soon as she’s sober, she can have her job back. That’s a generous offer and after some prodding from her friends she agrees.
Three Months Later
The cameras return to True Home Value three months later to see how things are going. CEO Larry says he sees a great improvement in both the atmosphere in the office and the sales numbers.
Mark is working with a corporate psychologist. He’s doing well, but has a long way to go.
Sharon is also seeing a counselor and she says it’s helping her slowly get back to being the person she once was.
As for Matt, he quit his job but not because he passed his bar exam. He went to work as a salesman for a competitor where he’s make a lot more money.
What Do You Think?
Did the company make the right decision by ordering Sharon to get help in order to keep her job? Tell us your thoughts in the comment area below.
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Photo courtesy of Fox
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