‘Firing will keep your team happy and strong’, says tech CEO who trains managers to let people go

Tech firm Journi's Chief Executive Officer Andreas Roettl has recently shared a post on LinkedIn where he says that firing employees is necessary and deserves the same attention as hiring. The tech executive highlighted the importance of firing, discribing it as a human resource activity. 

“Firing is as necessary and deserves the same attention as hiring. Firing will keep your team happy and strong. Firing will save your team spirit and culture,” said Roettl in his post last week. 

Roettl mentioned in his post that his company teaches team leads or managers to become good at terminating people. He teaches the team leaders how to sack people and give them practice.

He emphasised the importance of equipping managers with the necessary tools to assess a situation and advise on which steps to take. Regular feedback and assessment talks, an early warning system, performance improvement plans, and personal development opportunities for team members are crucial, according to the executive's post. 

The CEO started his post with a very controversial statement that made it go viral on the internet, “I'm really good at firing people… says no one ever. But we should!" he said.

The post has evoked positive and negative responses from netizens. This led to the CEO posting a clarification on his post, accepting that he tried grabbing people's attention through his sparking opening remark.

“In said post, I tried to catch your attention by using a more serious photo and a rather controversial opening. Among many positive reactions, there were also a few concerned messages,” said Roettl.

After his LinkedIn post, Roettl received messages from colleagues who warned him that his post could negatively impact the company's hiring efforts. Responding to this, he publicly apologised for hurting anyone's feelings, reiterating that his intention was to recognise and protect the contributions of his team.