Crain's Dallas: Safeguard Business Solutions President Shares Insight

J.J. Sorrenti has learned much throughout his extensive career, including the impact layoffs can have on the morale of a company. Early on in his career, before he joined the team at printing and promotions company Safeguard, he was told they needed to layoff a third of their staff. Although shocked, Sorrenti executed the plan without further discussion with upper management.

"It wasn’t disruptive to the profit margins, but it certainly wasn’t great for the employees who remained," said President of Dallas-based Safeguard J.J. Sorrenti in an interview with Crain's Dallas. "The result was that several more people ended up leaving because they had too much work piled on them."

Later reminiscing on the situation, Sorrenti felt he could have taken a stand against upper management but the larger lesson was that the company culture was the ultimate problem.

"If employees don’t feel comfortable coming to you with problems or concerns, you have failed as a leader," said Sorrenti to Crain's Dallas reporter Nicholas Sakelaris. "Now that I’m in a leadership position, I work hard to foster an environment where employees feel comfortable talking with me. Pushback is a good thing at Safeguard ."