Long-term Employees with High Salaries: Should We Offer a Golden Handshake?

We have a number of employees working in the same position for more than 5 years. Their salaries have become high, and productivity is also average. Management wants to give them a golden handshake. Should I proceed with that? If yes, what could be the process?

Dear Anjan,

Situations of this kind arise because:

- Measures of performance may not be defined correctly.
- Career plans are not made.
- Staff are not groomed and trained to hold higher positions.

Now, removing them even with a golden handshake is outrageous. However, if the situation really merits it, you can do so by:

- Paying them gratuity as applicable.
- Providing a salary for the next 36 to 60 months, as per management's choice.

What is the alternative to a golden handshake?

The alternative is to:

- Post the employees at some remote location (provided your company has a business unit located afar).
- Change the department of the employees. They will get fed up in the new department and may quit on their own.

For the above alternatives, cite reasons for change as "administrative reasons."

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar

"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance."

We have a number of employees working in the same position for more than 5 years. Their salaries have become high, and productivity is average. Management wants to offer them a golden handshake. Should I proceed with that? If yes, what could be the process?

This is not an isolated case. In India, at least, such cases happen anywhere and everywhere. The reasons for why it has happened, I have mentioned in my previous post.

I came across a case wherein a few employees of a courier company worked in the same position and did the same job for 16 years. With the introduction of barcode scanners, their positions became redundant. Now, management was in a dilemma about what to do with them. On humanitarian grounds, they could not be removed, and they were considered useless to do any job in any other section.

To avoid contingencies like this, we should run the organization according to the principles of management. However, which business leader has time to do all this? They are too obsessed with the expansion of their company.

Not all blame should go to employers alone. Employees should also be equally blamed. Why did they not volunteer to work in another department? Why did they not develop their careers on their own? They did not do this because of the lack of personality development.

Responsibility and Ethical Considerations

Do you mind letting us know, "WHO IS HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR EMPLOYEES TO CONTINUE DELIVERING THEIR SERVICES IN THE SAME CADRE WITHOUT AN ESCALATION (DESIGNATION) MECHANISM?

Does your management want to PLAY GAMES with your EMPLOYEES rather than being very ETHICAL with them?

Who is going to BENEFIT from a GOLDEN HANDSHAKE?

With profound regards.

Dear Mr. Dinesh, I do agree with you, and you must be aware of Employee Career Development Programmes being practiced by very few Indian organizations. India is globally known for the supply of manpower in various disciplines, but to what extent does the quality of manpower meet current market trends, even though we have come across employees with decades of experience?

It's not just about personality development; it's the lack of exposure, non-availability of mentors, an education system that doesn't focus on skill development, Indian traditional culture, and maybe a lot more.

I was studying Western (American) Culture: "Hire & Fire", and I found it quite interesting because Westerners hire for skills and fire for their bad attitude or for not being able to compensate them anymore due to lack of projects/assignments. They also believe in effective communication across hierarchy levels.

I really appreciate your punch line (marked in purple) "Principles of management and management itself are obsessed with business expansion."

If employers could have succeeded in communicating their policies to employees, everything would have been executed in a professional way proportional to the situation and circumstances.

With profound regards