When employees join a company, they are welcomed warmly and encouraged to believe in its mission and values. That same dignity should exist when employees leave. Instead, being escorted out through the very workplace where we contributed, in front of colleagues we worked alongside every day, is humiliating, traumatic, and deeply dehumanizing—especially when no ethical or professional wrongdoing has occurred.
If employees are trusted to work with integrity, they should not be treated like a risk or a spectacle at exit. Publicly escorting people out sends a clear message: respect ends the moment employment does. If an organization cannot offer a humane and respectful goodbye, it should reconsider how it defines “values” and “culture.”
This experience makes it difficult to believe that employees are truly respected as people. Perhaps the mission needs reflection—because how employees are treated in their most vulnerable moments reveals the real values of a company.