The internet has a very, very long memory. We would all do well to remember that.
This last week has been shark week for the disgruntled employee. On Wednesday, mild mannered mid-level executive Greg Smith dropped a bomb on Goldman Sachs, when his resignation letter was printed as an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times.
This last week has been shark week for the disgruntled employee. On Wednesday, mild mannered mid-level executive Greg Smith dropped a bomb on Goldman Sachs, when his resignation letter was printed as an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times.
Just a day earlier, senior engineer James Whittaker posted a
blog to Google’s intranet explaining the reasons behind his decision to quit
the internet giant.
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| Greg Smith's resignation letter appeared in the New York Times |
Both employees came off as genuinely
concerned, likeable and – most importantly – never surrendered the moral high
ground. Goldman Sachs, said Smith's letter, lacked integrity in its dealings with
customers. Google, said Whitaker, had sold the company’s soul to advertisers
and destroyed the culture of innovation. There were no insults, no personal
finger pointing and no sarcastic tone. Both men will be criticized for going public, but both can defend their actions as necessary and ultimately dignified.
Of course, not everyone takes this approach when it comes to resignation.
A personal favorite of mine will always be Jet Blue flight attendant
Steven Slater who, after being pushed too far one too many times by an
obnoxious passenger, grabbed a beer from the trolley, popped the lever of the
emergency exit shoot and slid to freedom like a child in a play park – his resignation,
called over his shoulder, ‘That’s it, I’m done.’
Joey DeFrancesco of Providence, Rhode Island can be found on
YouTube resigning with the enthusiastic support of a brass band. Jonathan
Schwartz of Sun Micro bowed out with a haiku via twitter (Financial crisis /
Stalled too many customers / CEO no more.)
There are a lot of ways to quit a job. And the original
approaches, while cathartic and enormous fun for your colleagues at the water cooler, will surely do
the quitters little good in the long term. In the social media age, the things
we do will stay with us, and recruiters are more and more thorough when it
comes to web-vetting job applicants. Steven Slater’s CNN piece on YouTube has a
quarter of a million hits. (As an employer would you really take the risk on it
happening to you?)
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Social Media has changed the culture
of Spring Break
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A report in the Times on the same day as Greg Smith's letter suggests that
college students on spring break are becoming less wild and carefree. With
cellphone cameras, Twitter and Facebook just a click away, party-goers are aware
of what the consequences of their drunken antics might be. They have simply changed their behavior. The same thinking should influence our workplaces. Anything you do could go viral at any minute, and there is no
putting the toothpaste back in the YouTube.
The end of employment is a natural part of the employment
cycle, whether you quit or you’re let go. Hopefully most of the time it will be
your decision, so when your time comes, remember that you’ll have to live with
your actions for the rest of your career.
