So long, and thanks for all the fish.

As the season of the long knives arrives, we have a look at the modern human resource management. Why aren’t we better at looking after good staff, and managing unsuitable ones?

In which the JC dips a toe in the tepid waters of human resources and concludes:

• A RIF is bad: A “reduction in force” is a lazy and foolish way of managing a workforce.

• Natural attrition is worse: “Natural attrition”, though ostensibly kinder, is an even lazier and more foolish way of managing a workforce.

• Lateral quitters are a canary: One underexamine “l…