Do Better Mr. Better.com

Dec 27, 2021

Part of a CEO's role is to represent the company's brand using their personal leadership brand and ensuring the company's values are represented in everything they do. So what happens when a CEO publicly tarnishes their brand?...

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Better.com CEO apologizes for firing 900 employees during Zoom call (msn.com)

Why didn’t anyone stop him?

If you're not familiar with the story, here is a high-level recap:

Three weeks before Christmas, Vishal Garg, Better.com's CEO, made international headlines after he awkwardly and unapologetically fired 900 of his employees on a 3-minute zoom call. Amongst those that he fired were their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion recruiting team, as well as hundreds of others who he suggested were stealing from the company. Read more here

This is one of the worst ways to become a featured CEO; hurting not only his personal leadership brand but also the brand of Better.com as a chosen place of employment. Along with his board, the rest of his team is cringing and wondering how on earth their brand will recover from this… I’m wondering who he uses as advisors, does he have a human resource expert… talk about an epic way to ruin a brand.

To other leaders, please don’t do this. It’s a costly mistake for everyone involved. The now x-employees are traumatized from the lack of respect and humiliation, the remaining employees are filled with shock, distrust and anxiety, current and future customers and community disappointed.

So what does this CEO do now? This is not a quick fix… start with an apology to every person, they are not a group, they are individual people. He will need to show customers and employees that he understands why this wasn’t acceptable and to take accountability as to why he ended up with so many employees who he believed were not delivering as per expectations. He then needs to build an advisory team that can provide him with honest feedback, he needs to develop self-awareness, empathy and learn how to regain the trust of current and future employees and customers. Clear communication, 360-feedback and leadership skills through coaching and training are also a must for his leadership brand repair. Although a big mistake, this is a great opportunity for a Brand Rewind™.

Zoe Mitchell is the founder of Sharp Processes, a leadership consultancy focused on improving employee engagement using Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Process Improvement with her 20 years of corporate senior leadership positions. She is also the author of Inclusive Leadership Now (also available on Amazon).