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Jack Welch
What is it called when an employer leverages an employee to quit and move on? The general term is called constructive discharge. This is when an employee’s resignation may be coerced and not voluntary. The language from the employer creates a hostile or intolerable work environment. If the employer applies pressure or coercion to force the employee to quit or resign, then constructive discharge is usually the term.
Recently, I read an article about a prominent community figure demonstrating true-blue integrity at the highest level possible. This person quit volunteering for a school district because of the injustice they perceived their friend was given as an employee. The friend was fired from the district, although they had been given excellent evaluations in all 23 years of employment. Never having received a negative mark in their evaluations, the employee was told it was time to move on.
For whatever reason the district was firing this particular employee, it was reported the person was told if they resigned without being terminated then the district would give them a good recommendation for other employment. Of course, the public is not privy to all of employee-employer conversations.
This community leader had held their voluntary role with the district for 46 years. He is a district icon and is considered a pilar of the community. In addition, he was elected to the local Educational Foundation’s Hall of Honor in 2022.
The school district volunteer was enraged at the treatment of their friend and quit. He and his family have been prominent figures in this community for decades. Many buildings, including an elementary school and high school auditorium, have been named on their behalf.
Quitting his volunteer position was like taking a loved one from him. The entire community loved his service to the district. He will be sorely missed.
It takes integrity to quit something you love. In leaving a position with a district over the perceived injustice given to others is a sign of personal integrity. It proves loyalty to friends and demonstrates that doing right by people is more important than doing things for yourself. This is true-blue friendship. The meaning of a true-blue person is unwavering in one's commitment; extremely loyal. This definition depicts this person to the tee.
A true-blue friend cares about others and has genuine concern about their well-being. They have respect for their thoughts and emotions. They hurt when their friend hurts.
This 2022 Hall of Honor volunteer demonstrated true-blue friendship by not only quitting from their position, but they went forward and spoke to the school district leaders in an open forum. He expressed his concerns and spoke about his perception of his friends’ firing injustice.
Thought for the week: “Honor your commitments with integrity.” — Les Brown
Dr. Jack Welch is an educator and college football coach. His doctorate is in educational administration, and he has been an educator, administrator, and football coach, mentoring young minds, for over 40 years. He is also the author of Foundations of Coaching. He can be reached at jackwelch1975@gmail.com.