Case Scenario: Ethics Dilemma: Pay for Performance Disconnect
You are the new vice president for HR of a company that has not been performing well, and everyone, including yourself, has a mandate to deliver results. The pressure has never been greater. Shareholders are angry after three years of a tough market that has left their company stock losing value every day. Many shareholders desperately need stock performance to pay for their retirement. Working for you is a 52-year-old manager with two kids in college. In previous evaluations, executives told him he was doing fine, when he clearly was not, and his performance is still far below par. At the same time, the executives awarded him impressive annual pay raises.
If you are to show others in the company that you are willing to make tough decisions, you feel you must fire this individual. The question is, who is going to suffer-the firm and, ultimately, the shareholders, whose retirements are in jeopardy-or a nice guy who's been lied to for 20 years?
Questions:
Q1. What would you do?
Q2. What factor(s) in this ethical dilemma might influence a person to make a less-than-ethical decision?