Boss Is Given 8 Hours To Sack All Of His Staff, So Orders Pizza and Writes Recommendations For Everyone

If you’re a boss with any kind of conscience, laying off your staff has got to be the toughest thing that you could ever have to do in your work life.

It’s one thing if someone loses their job through negligence or poor performance, but when staff need to be let go due to financial pressures on the company, due to no fault of their own, it’s a much harder pill to swallow.

Manager Adam Lewis, formerly of the US Marine Corps, learned many things while serving his country – one of the most important being that you look after your team, no matter how adverse the circumstances. Judging by this story, Adam has never forgotten that.

Lewis’s life has been eventful. As a young man, he enrolled in the marines, met his wife and then found out they were expecting a baby. He was forced to quit his dream career in the armed forces, but was determined to take the discipline and life lessons that he’d learned into his future career.

Once he left the Marines, Lewis found work managing a range of government contracts in a local business. The money was enough to provide for his family, and he was able to use his leadership skills in a new and interesting way.

The contract Adam’s team had with the federal government was going well, and the team were able to do everything asked of them. However, business, by its nature, is unpredictable. Unfortunately, Adam soon found his job under threat – along with the rest of his employees.

On the Thursday before the contract renewal was due, Adam was informed that, due to cutbacks, the project was not being extended, meaning that he and his whole team would be out of work in the very near future. In fact, the following day, would be their last day on the job.

This put Adam in a hugely difficult situation. He knew that his team, just like him, had children that needed providing for, along with mortgage payments and medical bills. Now, he had to give them the most stressful news possible.

Lewis gathered everyone into the conference room, and told everyone the news they had been fearing. The team glared back at him, shocked and stressed about the situation. After giving them their notice of termination, Adam would have been within his rights to leave the room, and leave his former colleagues to their own devices.

However, he remembered the spirit of the Marines, and how you should never leave one of your team in a sticky situation if you can help it.

He was going to do everything within his capabilities to ensure that all of the staff members would get new jobs, as soon as possible. Many of the team members were skeptical at first, but they needn’t have doubted him – Lewis was true to his word.

He explained that they could all help each other in highlighting the achievements on their resumes with the time that they had left. Then, he would write a glowing letter of recommendation for each of his team, emphasizing the skill that they wanted him to.

The next day, all of his team members came in, knowing that this would be their last day. Despite the fact that they were losing their jobs, everyone was in a good mood. As they worked on their resumes and fired off job applications, Adam helped them every step of the way.

When lunch rolled around, Adam ordered pizza for everyone, which he paid for out his own pocket. It’s worth remembering that he didn’t have to do any of this, and could have simply walked away when the bad news came in.

By the day’s end, he had written letters of recommendation that each member was pleased with. They all went for drinks, that Lewis paid for, wished each other luck in the future and went their separate ways.

Over the next few weeks, the team members got in touch with their former boss, one by one, to say that they’d already been offered a new position. They thanked Lewis for his great leadership and support through being laid off.

Adam is a shining example for every boss out there – just because business can be cruel, it doesn’t mean we should lose our humanity and compassion.

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