Some of you will lose your job, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. I take full accountability.
When COVID hit, the management team at the company I worked for, took temporarily salary hits. The rest of us were told our quarterly bonuses would be frozen. Nobody would be laid off unless it’s an emergency.
Company pivoted in just a few months thanks to smart executive decisions and hard working engineers. The quarterly bonuses were paid out anyway. Nobody was laid off. We saved a bunch of our B2B customers’ livelihoods by offering solutions that helped them continue operate during lockdowns (and our company’s income was directly dependent on THEIR income - if they suffered, we suffered, if they prospered, we prospered). Of course, the CEO was also the founder of the company and at that point, there had been no investors or anyone involved. It was truly a family-run company that had made it big.
THAT is accountability. Doing whatever you can to keep your staff employed and your customers happy.
That company has since enshittified because of management changes and I’ve left for greener pastures, but if I’m ever in charge of my own company and the financials look bleak, I’ll take the hit myself. It’s easier to replace money than it is to replace good, hard working people. And good people will help you pivot if your business model is no longer working out.
That’s not how accountability works…
Accountability would be lowering your own pay in order to keep your workers and admit you did this because others shouldn’t have to suffer for your mistakes.
And this is the problem with public companies and private equity. Number must go up.
“I declare accountability!”
