My Friend Was Fired Just Because She Gave The Company What They Wanted: Honest Feedback.

“Honesty is the best policy.”

Is it though? Is it actually good to be truthful? I don't think so.

Not everyone can handle the truth.

There are situations where being honest can go against you. Today my good friend and a colleague got fired. She worked for the company for over seven years, she was a valuable asset.

She is one of the most hardworking women in the games industry I know.

“It came as a shock to all of us.”

On second thought, it didn’t.

She was too good for the company. She is straightforward, she tolerates no bullshit. She was never cut for the corporate cloth.

These are turbulent times for many companies. People don’t want to go back to normal. People don’t want the “new normal” either.

People want more.

My friend asked too many questions. She gave suggestions on how to improve things. She disagreed with going back to the office when her KPIs were the highest during the times she worked from home.

“What can we (as a company) do better?”, they asked her.

My friend provided a list of suggestions. She pointed out painful things. She was willing to help the company improve.

After all, the company told her she is part of the family.

Her manager agreed with her, and even told her to present these suggestions at an internal business conference the next day.

Perhaps — better days were coming.

The same day at 5 PM the HR informed my friend that the company is letting her go. Reason?

“Different viewpoints…”

The following day she was given miserable 2 hours to clear her desk after 7 years of hard work. The landlord gives you more time to vacate. And so does the police.

The loving corporate family gives you only two hours to get your stuff and get the hell out of the office.

This was the best thing that happened to her.

The reason that people get hired is the same as the reason people get fired. And that reason is your attitude.

You don’t get hired for a job because of your shiny resume. You get hired because of your spirit. Who did the hiring manager like the most? Who was the most energetic? Who would fit the company culture? Who seemed the most straightforward person in the interview?

That’s who gets hired.

It’s also why people get let go. One of the main reasons people are fired comes down to attitude. Employment relationships end because of disagreements, personality clashes and because people evolve.

People outgrow the companies and the managers.

Despite the work my friend has done for the company, they fired her anyway. She pointed out toxicity within the company: the nonsense decisions made by the higher-ups, the work from office policies in times of global pandemic, the unacceptable (often quite aggressive )behaviour from the colleagues.

The manager agreed with her and reassured her that it would change. The manager thanked her for being honest. The manager lied.

I consider myself to be an honest person and I’ve been in similar situations like my friend before. I have learned that honesty at work comes with risks.

Every company promises to be ethical, honest, but the reality is different.

Employees don’t feel comfortable being completely honest. Employees are unable to be brutally honest when honesty is not wanted or appreciated. Employees that are honest face the risk of losing their job due to honesty.

“Company is heading in a wrong direction. And this is why…”

I’ve seen companies do many wrong things and I tried to reason with many of them. I knew that their decisions would destroy the teams and damage the product reputations. The companies didn’t care, they’ve already invested enough and they won’t listen to the likes of me — I became an obstacle.

If you too are facing a situation like this, it's better to get off the ship before it sinks or stays on but keep your mouth shut. There is no other way.

“You feel undervalued?”

My colleague got fired after he spoke of his feelings. You see his projects were stolen by another colleague who wished to advance. My colleague contacted his manager and HR telling how undervalued he feels and hopes that something can be done to change that.

He presented solid data and information about his contribution to the job and what could be done so he doesn’t feel like this anymore. He also presented the facts that strengthened his argument that he is being undervalued by colleagues.

Within a week my colleague was fired.

“We could do things better.”

My friend who got fired improved the work efficiency within the team. She advocated for many tools to be used and promoted them within the workplace. When she brought up the concern of the work from the official policy she got fired instead.

She presented the reasons why working from home will help people remain productive. The thing was, nobody wanted that feedback, because the reasons behind these policies are not employee-centric.

If they were we would not be pressured to go to the office when the pandemic is back on the rise and our job can be done remotely. Even better.

An honest person can’t survive in the corporate world for too long. The corporate world is made for opportunistic souls that have no remorse. In the corporate world, a dishonest person is a smart person and an honest person is a “threat”.

The corporate world was never made out of honest people. It was made by people who use honesty as a manipulation tactic to build trust in relationships and exploit others in order to navigate, advance and succeed within the politics of these toxic corporate environments.

Open spaces are full of lies.

Thank you for reading.

This article was originally published here.