Over the past 2 months I have had calls from friends in business who have been either laid-off or downsized because of the economy. In one particular case I was appalled to hear that one of my very close colleagues was let go who ran a very successful business with excellent margins and top line growth. Are you surprised to hear that in the current economic environment? Well believe it I mean top and bottom line growth year over year with margins increasing each year as well.
This person ran the business which was a business unit of a larger corporation. She was smart, brought in excellent people and had the respect of the organization. Her leadership skills were exceptional and it permeated throughout the organization. Well, suffice it to say that the parent company was looking to take out additional overhead to shore up its' margins and she was hit.
So here is my dilemma, this person was 1,000 miles away from the parent company, it's business was different in most regards, and was a stand alone environment except for infrastructure and IT development support. How could the management of the parent company come to a decision like that unless it has no regard for business economics and how to effectively manage people. I am appalled at this decision and would love to read the sales and profit statements in 2009-2010 to see the full affect of this stupid decision.
What are your opinions on this subject and have you seen similar decisions made in your company that make little or no business sense.
