Make a decent sale

”Make a decent dismissal”:

In principle, it is hard to disagree with the words from newly qualified PhD Helle Kryger Aggerholm in an article in Børsen on 29 May. When you are faced with the task of having to dismiss employees who do not deserve it, you owe it to them and the company to do so in a serious and appropriate manner.

That being said, the PhD-project seems as a classic desk study. Why does it come as a surprise that employees are “furious about the way management communicates?” Anyone who ordinarily deals with managerial tasks knows that when lightning strikes, a lightning rod must be present to absorb the impact. This lightning rod can be none other than the messenger – the middle manager that is. It is a set assignment with a great deal of well known choreography – both from the part of the employee and from management. However, one thing is certain: Everyone knows that layoffs are coming - it is all over the media. And most big companies are capable of planning it well – especially if several employees are to be dismissed at the same time.

However, the managerial shoe pinches in a completely different place. The case is that the state of the market has been so beneficial that true leadership is an almost forgotten discipline. For too long, everything has been about doing business in a market where consumers get in line in front of the stores flashing their credit cards. But now the easy ride is over.

What we need now is not stokers who can stoke a fire but managers who know that sales do not just appear out of the blue, but from a determined, professional and proactive effort working face to face or via the phone with customers. It takes leadership, training, team spirit, determination and much more.

Make a decent dismissal? Of course. Make a decent sale: This is where the future lies.