Business Ethical Position
Layoffs occur due to many legitimate and different reasons. Reasons such as downsizing a business unit that is poorly performing or closure of a merged department are common in various business institutions. In this case, the manager has to carefully consider fairness and different ethical theories and not just fear of litigation. Since both Jill and Jack have similar performance records, justice must get exercised during the layoff. Before getting to any conclusions, the manager can conduct some assessments or tests for both employees as both have similar skills and capabilities. A boss may let go of Jill due to fear of litigation, but that is not an issue for determining layoffs. Leaders need to use the criteria closest to their decision points and those that they have control over, usually, more work-related. Since the manager is not relying on the performance-based measure, his opinions should adequately be documented. The forced ranking should also be done to evaluate matters such as absenteeism and the capacity to perform various functions and keep the employee with the best scores.
Managers must emphasize human dignity and justice at the workplace when experiencing a probable downsize. The manager should explicitly identify the employee to layoff on the ground of the workforce’s articulated goals. However, if the goals are unclear, the tough decision can be based on abilities, performance, qualification, and diversity goals. Human dignity should be considered, and an honest explanation offered to the employee being laid off. If Jill performs better than Jack in the forced ranking, Jack should get fired. The manager can apply the deontological theory to talk to the vice president and solve the conflict. The supposition depicts that an action that is not morally good (such as firing Jack) can result in something useful (such as the bank’s performance) to ensure the bank’s success.