Re:Ask HN: Co-founder mom died, and his depression is effect...
by kafkaesq on Monday December 12, 2016 @03:12PM
(#13161485)
Is there anybody on here who has successfully dealt with depressed employees/co-founders?
Yes, I know of one well-known company which gave one of its core team members an unlimited leave of absence (with a believable promise that they'd be welcome to come back any time in the next 2 years). The key aspect here is that this was a small-ish, (then) family-run company -- and in many ways, the team was like family, too. Also, this was well before the current hyper-accelerated "My startup's growth plan über alles" ethos that we have today -- so even aside from the family-run aspect, people at least did generally have some perspective on the human side of things (unlike today).
I feel as if the best thing for the business is to let go of him, but it's a shitty thing to do.
Absolutely. Definitely don't just fire the guy. (Aside from being a shitty thing to do -- I'm assuming it's abundantly clear already that there's a significant chance that could backfire in ways that could hurt the company far beyond the current loss of productivity).
But (absent an actual, forced leave of absence) it may be a good idea to ply him with a significant amount of paid leave (4+ months), with a suggestion that he put aside any idea of working full-time for quite a bit longer than that -- plus a statement that he's not only welcome, but very strongly encouraged to re-apply at any time after 6 (given that it's basically too complicated legally to outright promise someone a position will be available for them in the future, given the way business conditions usually go -- which I'm sure he can understand, in his current condition).
Things happen in life, and sometimes you just have to do the right thing.
Yes, I know of one well-known company which gave one of its core team members an unlimited leave of absence (with a believable promise that they'd be welcome to come back any time in the next 2 years). The key aspect here is that this was a small-ish, (then) family-run company -- and in many ways, the team was like family, too. Also, this was well before the current hyper-accelerated "My startup's growth plan über alles" ethos that we have today -- so even aside from the family-run aspect, people at least did generally have some perspective on the human side of things (unlike today).
I feel as if the best thing for the business is to let go of him, but it's a shitty thing to do.
Absolutely. Definitely don't just fire the guy. (Aside from being a shitty thing to do -- I'm assuming it's abundantly clear already that there's a significant chance that could backfire in ways that could hurt the company far beyond the current loss of productivity).
But (absent an actual, forced leave of absence) it may be a good idea to ply him with a significant amount of paid leave (4+ months), with a suggestion that he put aside any idea of working full-time for quite a bit longer than that -- plus a statement that he's not only welcome, but very strongly encouraged to re-apply at any time after 6 (given that it's basically too complicated legally to outright promise someone a position will be available for them in the future, given the way business conditions usually go -- which I'm sure he can understand, in his current condition).
Things happen in life, and sometimes you just have to do the right thing.