The news this week that David Beckham has been dropped from the England squad for the forthcoming friendly with Greece may be of little interest to HR Zone members but it does raise interesting issues about how we treat those who are no longer required.

The expression ‘We had to let him go’ was not one I had come across until a few years ago when I attended a session run by Greville Janner at the CIPD annual Conference. For those who have not been to one of Greville’s sessions he tends to be fairly caustic yet skilled at pouncing on those idle comments made by those who should know better!

The first example I saw was a hapless HR Director who claimed to have no contract of employment! The second example was an HR Officer who asked a question about terminating employment without notice, describing the situation as ‘letting him go.’ Greville was onto this like a flash, ‘You didn’t let him go, you broke his contract by terminating his contract without notice,’ he said.

Now when it comes to footballers, and cricketers for that matter, life seems pretty harsh when you are no longer needed. It’s all so personal, they never make goalkeepers redundant! Neither do they restructure football teams so that left backs are no longer required. Interestingly though, when it comes to sports matters leaders seem to be more honest than managers in normal commercial life.

I happen to follow cricket closely and so announcements about England team selection have a particular interest to me. So a couple of weeks ago, fresh from a resounding victory over Pakistan, I listened out for the team for the third test match. The news was that Geraint Jones, the wicket keeper, had been dropped.

Now in the previous match he had suffered a fractured finger (big issue for wicket keepers!), however, the coach had formed the view that his batting wasn’t strong enough to warrant a place in the side. Leaving aside the technicalities of cricket, two interesting points arose. Firstly, the coach made it clear that he was being dropped because he wasn’t good enough.

It would have been very easy to blame it all on the injury and take that as an easy option, but Duncan Fletcher was very clear about it. Secondly, Geraint was told that he needed to get some more practice and that possibly there would be opportunities in the future – an incentive was provided to improve. Interesting to contrast this with the treatment of David Beckham, where to an outsider at least, the words said you’ve got hope for the future, but the subtext said forget it!

So what’s all this got to do with the real world? How many of us have been asked to use reorganisations to get rid of people who don’t fit, or whose skills are no longer required? I certainly am often approached by organisations who wish to exit someone and wish to use the route of least resistance. But if we accede to these requests are we doing the right thing? Do we need more honesty in these matters? It is very easy and tempting to use redundancy as an option when performance isn’t up to scratch, but does it gain respect for the management team?

In any event, I’m bound to say redundancy is not the easy option it used to be, and using this route is in reality fraught with legal danger. We need to remember that employees are not daft; they recognise when a true redundancy occurs, and when it is a sham. So why not encourage honesty in organisations? Not easy, but perhaps it has long term dividends.

What examples have you got of dismissals being dressed up as something else? Have you ever seen them come unstuck, either from internal perceptions or through the Tribunal route? Let’s hear your views and experiences! Simply post your comments at the foot of this article.

Quentin Colborn is an independent HR consultant based in Essex who advises management teams on operations and strategic HR issues. To contact him T: 01376 571360 or e-mail him at Quentin@qcpeople.co.uk

Colborn’s Corner: series articles

• HR as Brand Managers




• Who wants a job?




• Game, Set and Match?




• The recruitment lottery




• Equality in HR?




• Reshuffles




• Green HR




• Is that a strike I see?




• Budgeting for success?




• Who’s the best?




• Just administrators?




• What’s the point of HR?




• Who’s a big bully?




• Who remembers final salary pension schemes?




• Should HR make New Year resolutions?




• The HR year in review




• Who can you trust these days?




• How am I doing?




• Who cares?




• Is it worth rocking the boat?




• The truth about work/life balance




• Benefits – your flexible friend?




• Who remembers industrial relations?




• HR Zone stirs up porn probe




• Compensation culture or fair treatment?




• Mind your Ps and Qs




• Assessment Centres – are they worth it?




• What’s in a name?




• Disciplinary dilemmas divulged