4. Eyes Wide Open

This chapter highlights the first of six findings from the research on the redemptive managerial behaviors that led to the successful reinstatement of many employees who were rehired after being terminated for cause. In this first finding, there was a period of self-reflection: where did they fail? It was not necessarily just the employee who failed; it may have been the manager as well in some aspect of supervision. There was fact checking: what could they have done differently? This led to willingness by the manager to take responsibility for the reinstatement of a terminated employee, due to the consideration of the employee’s past performance as a potential predictor of future success as well as the investment made by the company in the employee’s development.