Radio Shack Lays Off 400 - By Email
October 5th, 2006Radio Shack has laid off 400 employees, notifying them by sending them an email.
Notified by email. You’d think organizations couldn’t go any lower.
Alas, they already have. A British firm laid off at least one employee recently by sending them an instant message.
Yep, you read that correctly.
It’s creepy, it’s clumsy, it’s unprofessional.
But what does it say about the organization’s managers that they couldn’t be trusted to carry this water?
I can’t say that the company decided to do this because the managers couldn’t be trusted. In fact, I would bet that thinking about how well the managers could handle this unfortunate task never crossed the minds of whomever made the decision.
But I will also bet that if the company trusted and respected its managers, so much so that it considered its management to be a key part of its success, the managers would have been trusted with this effort.
This was a sad day in the compact between managers and organizations.
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October 5th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
[…] I first saw this on Managers Tools, who reported that Radio Shack laid off 400 people and told them by email. Not wanting to spread rumors or untruths, and not wanting to believe it, I did a quick search and here is the story on USA Today. […]
October 5th, 2006 at 8:15 pm
Mark,
I would submit the issue is larger, at least in this case and possibly overall. I believe it is that they don’t trust or respect people in general, not just managers. It goes to what you said with the sentance, “In fact, I would bet that thinking about how well the managers could handle this unfortunate task never crossed the minds of whomever made the decision.”
I could (and have in the past) ranted on about the devaluation of the concept of intrinsic human dignity in our society. I’ll save you the rant here, save for one subjective, totally personal observation: While I still see most people as being able to care for the feelings and needs of people they know or see face-to-face, I see more and more people placing less and less value on the feelings and needs of the generic “people.” Strangers become commodities, and have little or no value because it is felt they have little or no relevance.
That, and I will be blunt and say that I believe the people that made the decision to conduct the layoffs in this manner are gutless cowards, plain and simple.
FYI, I have some experience with Radio Shack. My ex-wife worked for their direct-sale computer division back in the early days our marriage, over 20 years ago. I can tell you that people in general, be they managers or staff, were not respected then either. And lest anyone think that this is the opinion of a person that didn’t understand management or how to deal with people, let me say that my ex is now the CIO of a very successful multinational company in the pharmacutical industry. I dare say she knows a few things about management, and she uses her time at Radio Shack as a negative example in her life.
Was I shocked to read of Radio Shack laying people off via email? I was beyond shocked and in to horrified. Was I surprised? Not a bit. Nor will I be surprised to hear it happening again in other companies. And that, I find truly sad.
Paul
October 5th, 2006 at 9:33 pm
I wonder how many people didn’t even read the email until notified by a fellow employee.
By the way, what do you put in the subject line of that email?
October 5th, 2006 at 10:49 pm
“By the way, what do you put in the subject line of that email?”
To those who are about to die, we salute you?
October 6th, 2006 at 11:08 am
If they listened to you about only checking your email two or three times daily they would have been let go at 9:30a and not know about it until 4:30p. Talk about the corporate cowards way out of doing the managers job.
October 6th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
I would submit that with only 400 jobs on the line it was inevitable that a company that notifies their employees of their unemployment status was going to lose them one way or another.
You are correct pneuhardt, it shows very little value for their employees.
The Badman
www.badmanblog.com
October 11th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
A couple of months ago I registered with Manager tools after reading a few interesting posts. Today I received an awesome e-mail fom Mark and Mike today that motivated me to take the time to check out Manager Tools. I have been following the posts, but today’s e-mail says they want to change the way that managers manage world-wide.
Me too!
Like paul, I had a relative who worked in management for Radio Schack. Every major holiday family get-together would include that latest stories of grief and mediocrity.
They don’t trust their managers. Nor do they train them.
Companies that don’t train or trust front-line managers better have a great product or service.
November 27th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
The British Company, i remember it being a text message not an IM. Could be two different occasions however.
November 27th, 2006 at 5:16 pm
Gareth-
You’re right! It was a text message, and not an IM. My error.
And… WOW. Can you believe it? Sheesh.
Mark
January 12th, 2007 at 7:38 am
I read in today’s Scottish newspapers that NCR went one better then Radio Shack by using a pre-recorded video message to sack 650 of their workers yesterday.
Bill Nuti, president and chief executive of bank machine makers NCR, couldn’t find the time to tell his staff personally that their jobs were being axed. So he had a film made of himself breaking the news, and told a deputy to take it across the Atlantic to the firm’s 60-year-old plant in Dundee.
Before playing the tape, bosses called police to the factory in case workers’ anger spilled out of control.
The staff, who have an average of 20 years service each, looked on in dismay at a mass meeting as NCR global vice president Rick Marquarat switched on a TV and rolled Nuti’s video.
Police stood at the back, keeping an eye on the crowd. But although there was plenty of colourful language as the workers watched the tape, the bosses’ fears of trouble didn’t materialise.
After Nuti’s video was played, the staff were sent home until next week. Managers warned them that their redundancy packages would be affected if they didn’t turn up for work on Monday.
Like Mark said another sad day - Way to go NCR
Edmund
January 12th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
It’s only going to get worse. Companies will continue to become more crass like this, in the face of profitability and cost pressures.
What that means is that the Effective Managers of the world will become even more in demand.
At some point, managers are going to be like free agents, carrying around with them NOT their companies’ successes, but rather their own statistics, around productivity, budgets, retention, promotion of directs, etc. Managers will start looking for jobs that maximize their marketability against growing consensus on what factors are most in demand.
Bet on it.
Mark
January 12th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
http://www.channel4.com/news/2003/05/week_4/30_amulet.html
That is the most famous (for all the WRONG reasons) case here in the UK, up to 2,500 people were made redundant by text message.
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:19 pm
I had a bad experience with radioshack. I am 60 years old and when I went their to purchase for my daughter a ipod, the sales person was not even knowledgable but very unprofessional. Circuit city and best buy are better than radio shack because their customer service is not that bad when you go there to buy or return. tHEY treat you as if you are there regular customer. beside best buy associates have a lot of knowledge when it come to questioning a product to the associate.
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:37 am
I suspect that to the people who made the decisions (to lay people off and how to inform them) these were not people, they were surplus resources to be disposed of in the quickest and cheapest way possible.
Reminds me of a Dilbert Cartoon:
PHB: We used to say “People are our most valuable asset” but money is our most valuable asset, people are our ninth.
Wally: What’s number 8?
PHB: Carbon paper