I was chatting with someone the other day who recalled the time she left her longtime job and requested an exit interview. She had a lot to say to her employer and knew it could get heated and emotional, so she brought a support person to help keep her thoughts on track.
Under New Zealand employment law, employees have the right to bring a support person to meetings. This person can be anyone the employee chooses: a friend, family member, union representative, colleague, or lawyer. The purpose of this is so that the employee has emotional and/or legal counsel in the event that they receive distressing news. The support person can take notes, keep the employee on track with what they mean to say, and clarify points with the employer. From my understanding, support people are most often brought in for disciplinary meetings and meetings where the employee suspects they are getting laid off [made redundant] or fired. (Or, in the case of the person I was chatting with, to make sure they’re making all of their points).
This reminded me of a story which made its way around the world a few years ago, a story which I’m sure some of you remember but which nevertheless deserves resurrection.
In 2019, a Kiwi man received an email from HR requesting a meeting to “discuss his future at [name of company]”, which is never a good sign. Since he was fairly sure he was about to be laid off, he decided to bring a support person. What happened next is covered quite nicely in this BBC article.
“[The clown] accompanied Josh for the redundancy meeting, where the clown made balloon animals, although he had to be told to stop a few times as it was difficult to hear above the screeching of plastic.”
You can watch a hysterical interview with Josh and “Joe” the clown here. The whole thing is worth watching, but for those of you who don’t have five and a half minutes to spare, Joe demonstrates the distraction of screeching balloon animals at 2:15.
My favorite quote from the interview is “I thought the news was going to be quite bad, and I thought if it’s going to be bad news, I’d best get a professional in. Obviously family and friends are the usual support people, but to be honest, my mum can’t even juggle, so…..”.