1. Case application: 01 Title: "MAKING A LAYOFF DECISION" Question: Which two employees you suggest laying off among the five? Justify your answer. MAKING A LAYOFF DECISION Working with a Team Every manager, at some point in his or her career, is likely to face the difficult task of managing the laying off of employees. Assume that you are the human resource director of a 720-member technol- ogy company. You have been notified by top management that you must permanently reduce your staff by two individuals. Below are some data about your five employees. Shawana Johnson, African American female, age 36. Shawana has been employed wich your company for five years, all in HRM, Herculacions over the past three years have been outstanding, above average, and outstanding. Shawana has an MBA from a top-25 business school. She has been on short- term disability the past few weeks because of the birth of her second child and is expected to return to work in twenty weeks. Greg Oates, Whice male, age 49. Greg has been with you for four months and has eleven years of experience in the com- pany in systems management. He has a degree in computer science and master's degrees in accounting information sys- tems. He's also a CPA. Greg's evaluations over the past three years in the systems department have been average, but he did save the company $150,000 on a suggestion he made to use electronic time sheets. Carlos Rodriquez, Hispanic male, age 31. Carlos has been with the company almost four years. His evaluations over the past three years in your department have been outstanding. He is committed to getting the job done and devotes whatever it takes. He has also shown initiative by taking job assignments that no one else wanted. Carlos has been instrumental in start- ing up your benefits administration intranet for employees. Cathy Williams, White female, age 35. Cathy has been with your company seven years. Four years ago, Cathy was in an automobile accident while traveling on business to a customer's location. As a result of the accident, she was disabled and is wheelchair-bound. Rumor has it that she is about to receive several million dollars from the insurance company of the driver who hit her. Her perform- ance the past two years has been above average. She has a bachelor's degree in human resource management and a master's degree in human development. Cathy specializes in training, career, and organization development activities. Rodney Smith, African American male, age 43. Rodney just completed his joint MBA and law program and recently passed the bar exam. He has been with your department four years. His evaluations have been good to above average. Five years ago, Rodney won a lawsuit against your company for discrimi nating against him in a promotion to a supervisory position Rumor has it that now, with his new degree, Rodney is actively pursuing another job outside the company. Given these five brief descriptions, make a recommendation to your boss in which two employees will be laid off. Discuss any other options you might suggest to meet the requirement of down- sizing by two employees without resorting to layoffs. Discuss what you will do to (1) assist the two individuals who have been let go and (2) assist the remaining three employees. Then, in a group of three to five students, seek consensus on the questions posed above. Be prepared to defend your actions