The Firing of an Employee

I once had an employee who worked for me for sixteen years. This employee did a very good job. He did almost everything that I could have asked of him. He was a very popular employee around the workplace also. He was all of that, at least for the first twelve years. After that, he seemed to lose his edge, his fire. I'm not really sure what the cause was. Needless to say, I spoke many times with him over the last four years to determine the cause of his drop in performance. He was given every tool he needed or wanted to help get his performance back to where it had been the previous twelve years. But to no avail. Finally, after four years of under-achieving, I let him go.

Now, many people at work chastised me for running off a man who had once been such a great employee. Others were happy with my decision to finally get rid of someone who clearly was being given every chance yet still failing to perform up to expectations. My decision was not based on emotion. If it was, this man would definitely still be under my employ. But performance in the workplace matters. We all know that. None of us get paid to tell funny jokes in the break room.

So what were my reasons for firing this guy? Well, first off, it was accountability. Since I preach performance, I had to to let a non-performer go....even though this man had been revered for the performance of his first twelve years. An employee cannot rest on their laurels of the past. Second, this man was our highest paid employee. When he first started, he was paid a certain sum of money to do a particular job. He agreed to that amount and did a great job. Every so often, I gave him a pay raise with the expectation that his great job performance would continue. His value had increased and so should his compensation. But over the last four years, his value had decreased and it becomes very hard to decrease a person's compensation once it has been given to him. I believe it sends a poor message to the rest of my employees to continue to employ and pay a man who clearly is not going to perform as he once did.

Finally, I want to remind people that this company is bigger than any employee. Great performers are welcome here. In fact, we very much desire you. You will be given every tool you need to succeed. Your achievements will be celebrated. But there will also be accountability. When your performance begins to suffer, I will want to know why. Don't worry, you will be given time to correct your course. However, like this man that I fired, if you don't correct course and your performance is still in decline I will let you go for the future good of the company.

Well, I hope I have explained this situation as clearly as I witnessed it happening. The above story is me speaking in the voice of the University of Texas and my employee was Mack Brown. Sorry folks, I know many of you loved and adored him. But for the future good of the University, it was time.

Trouble at the University of Texas

These are crazy times at the University of Texas. I hardly know where to begin. I suppose I will begin with the women's track coach, Bev Kearney. Ms. Kearney was recently forced to resign due to her admission of an affair with a student athlete on her team. This affair took place more than ten years ago and lasted almost two years. I cannot condone the actions of Ms. Kearney and fully agree with her resignation. However, there appears to be a double standard in place. Just a few days ago, a story broke of assistant football coach and former UT football player, Major Applewhite, had sexual relations with a student during a trip to a bowl game.

The student was also a part of the football team in the role of student trainer. But officials at UT say Applewhite's case is different because the trainer did not report directly to him. Well, of course she didn't. Applewhite coaches the entire offense for the Texas football team. Only those players who are on the offense and the other offense coaches report to him. But she is still a part of the team and a line was crossed by their affair. Even Athletic Director, Deloss Doods agreed when he froze Applewhite's salary for eleven months and required him to get counseling. However, why the disparity in punishments between Kearney and Applewhite? Is it just a football bias? Is it a male/female bias? Or is it a racial bias? Kearney is African-American, Applewhite is white. The University of Texas does have a history of racism, as does many schools throughout the South.

Let's move on to the baseball coach, Augie Garrido. About two weeks after the Applewhite affair, Garrido is pulled over in downtown Austin and arrested for DWI. In this case, an actual law was broken. His punishment? Garrido received a four game suspension....with pay. Yes, folks, that's all he received. A head coach can break laws and receive what amounts to no punishment but another head coach is forced to resign while not breaking any laws. For the record, Garrido is a white man.

This past December, two players were accused of sexual assault while at a bowl game in San Antonio. The two players were suspended for the game. The police decided there was not enough evidence to charge the players and both have been reinstated to the team. One player was white, Case McCoy. McCoy is the brother of former UT quarterback and football hero, Colt McCoy. The other player is African-American, Jordan Hicks. I can only wonder what the outcome would have been if both players had been African-American? Especially since the woman involved was white, drunk and passed out. Oh, and who did McCoy have his wrist slapped by? Well, most likely it would have been the coach he reported directly to.....the above-mentioned Mr. Applewhite. It appears Mr. Applewhite is doing a fantastic job of leading by example. No wonder he recently received a promotion. The promotion also came at the exact same time Ms. Kearney was being shown the door.

Have I mentioned Cleve Bryant? Mr Bryant was the right hand man to the head football coach, Mack Brown. His title was Associate Athletics Director for Football Operations. Wow. Big title. Who do you think is THE director of football operations? It's the head coach, Mack Brown. Mr. Bryant was fired in 2011 for sexually harassing a female employee of the athletic department. Silly Cleve. If only he had sex with her all would have been well. Or maybe not, since Mr. Bryant is African-American.

And that brings us to the most recent arrest. Connor Brewer is a backup quarterback at UT. His coach is Applewhite. Brewer was charged with public intoxication and possessing a fake ID. Now, some will say this is standard college stuff. Actually, it is probably unlikely that the majority of the 50,000 students at the University of Texas all have public intoxication charges. Now, I Brewer's charge is very minor and I bring it up only because it shows the lack of leadership being given by Applewhite as well as the head coach, Mack Brown. Throw in Brown's boss, the Athletic Director Deloss Doods as well.

So we have two African-Americans in the athletic department either fired or forced out due to sexual indiscretions while a white football coach commits sexual indiscretions and is allowed to keep his job and is eventually promoted. We have a white head coach who breaks laws and keeps his job and only receives a four game paid vacation. Players are running amuck. And why not? They are only emulating the leaders of this athletic department. There needs to be a complete overhaul of leadership in UT athletics. Mack Brown and Deloss Dodds are the two who must go immediately.

PS    I didn't even mention Joe Jamail. Mr. Jamail is one of the most generous donors in school history. The football field is named in his honor. He is also an attorney in Houston who just happens to be currently consulting Mr. Applewhite during this firestorm. Mr. Jamail said that Mr. Applewhite had broken no University policy. Really? Then why would Dodds have frozen his salary or required him to get counseling? I didn't mention how at the time of Mr. Applewhite's indiscretions, his wife was within days of giving birth to their first child. I did mention, and it bears mentioning again, the possible racial implications of what is going on within the athletic department of UT. Now that head coach of the women's track team, Bev Kearney has been forced out how many head coaches of color does UT currently have? Well unofficially, one. Rose Brimmer is currently the interim head coach of the women's track team. All this from the rich, powerful, flagship university of the state of Texas. Sad.