A few of us were today called upon to comment on a colleague in office and whether or not we ought to retain him. We are all of the opinion that he is certainly not an asset and has in fact caused tremendous loss to us as a firm - monetary & goodwill. This person also has a wife and a son.
When asked about his contribution to the firm today by the top boss, I made a frank statement that as a person he is very well-liked, but as a professional he is very severely lacking and compared him to his counterparts in the other offices. We have had alot of problems/chaos professionally because of lack of action on his part. The others agreed with what I said but we all felt that he ought to be given another chance. The top boss has agreed to give him a month to pull up his socks and no more.
When we came out, the others told me that I should not have said what I said - that he has been around for 3 years and has a family to look after. I stand by what I say. I like him as a person, but as a professional he is lacking and we have all faced embarrassing situations because of him. I cannot sit back and not give my opinion when asked for a frank opinion, but just because he is a family man should I have stayed silent? If he loses his job today, the others say it will be because of me. I don't think I did anything wrong - did I?