Football-style firings in SMEs: A risky game for business owners
HR professionals are seeing SMEs start to copy football’s “sack the boss” culture when things go south for the company, but warn that this strategy could turn into an “expensive legal headache”.
Managers of major football teams, especially those in the Premier League, can operate like a revolving door when the team is in a slump.
Just today, Manchester United sacked manager Ruben Amorim less than 24 hours after he publicly issued a demand for more control of affairs at the club following a 1-1 draw with Leeds United. The club has had six permanent managers come and go since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped away in 2013.
But HR professionals are now seeing the same reflex creeping into small businesses when something goes wrong, there is a rush for leadership to exit and calm the room.
Kate Underwood, founder of Kate Underwood HR and Training, said: “Small businesses are starting to treat senior hires like football managers. One wobble and it’s ‘cheers for your service’.”
However, unlike Manchester United, which has the funds to pay Amorim around £20m in compensation for firing him 18 months before his contract expires, small businesses don’t have these resources.
Underwood noted that small businesses don’t have parachute payments, a comms team, or even a legal department to tidy up the fallout.
SMEs struggled in 2025
This comes as British SMEs have struggled with rising inflation and taxes raised by the Labour government in 2025.
Gary Parsons, creator of selfish leadership at Gary Parsons UK, explained “Business performance…is slightly murkier…and the temptation to scapegoat one person for complex operational failures becomes enormous in the face of organisational politics.”
“In small businesses especially, we’re too quick to blame leaders when the real problem is the culture around them, one that pushes overwork, fuels constant pressure and then acts surprised when people burn out,” he added.