In The Apprentice, Donald Trump made the line famous: “You’re fired.” But in real life, away from the television cameras, those words can change lives—in a negative direction. Employers and human relations professionals are often the ones tasked with moderating the separation, but sometimes untrained in how to navigate the complex emotions involved, at least from the perspective of the discharged party. Threat assessment professionals are critical components in this process, providing (often literal) lifesaving advice and expertise in strategizing separation. Yet in any workplace, there are ways to mitigate adverse reactions, from depression to anger to violence.
Mental Health in the Workplace and Attachment Theory
Devon McConnell and colleagues (2025) investigated the relationship between mental health at work and attachment.[1] They began by acknowledging the role and importance of employee well-being. They explain that a variety of factors affect workplace mental health and wellness, including work-life balance, quality of communication, job security, growth opportunities, the availability of support, and the chance to participate in decision-making. Examining workplace dynamics within a framework of attachment theory, McConnell and colleagues explain that proximity to an attachment figure who is viewed as supportive, responsive, and accessible creates a sense of security; the absence of such attributes creates insecurity and potentially significant distress. Investigating the role of attachment on employee work-related mental health, they found that secure attachment predicted a higher degree of emotional regulation, higher job satisfaction, and reduced stress. Insecure attachment, on the other hand, led to emotional distress, decreased job performance, and increased burnout.
Attachment Style as a Risk Factor
Other research has identified employee attachment style as a risk factor for experiencing emotional trauma after job loss. Lumina S. Albert and colleagues (2015)[2] found that strong psychological ties with an employer or organization do not always lead to positive organizational outcomes, particularly after professional dissolution. They explain that the psychological and physiological effects of professional dismissal may affect the grief, emotional trauma, and a sense of abandonment linked with losing the “employment relationship,” as opposed to the financial or social impact of job loss.
Lumina S. Albert and colleagues explain how employee life-history information is useful in understanding levels of anger, distress, frustration, and behavioral retaliation following job loss. Adopting an attachment theory perspective, they note that insecure employees experiencing deep organizational attachment often react with negative emotion and the potential for retaliatory behavior when experiencing a threat to their employment relationship, similar to the way they would respond to a threat to a personal relationship.
Mitigating Maladaptive Coping
Lumina S. Albert and colleagues note that the method of job dismissal can significantly affect employee coping responses because employee coping strategies are based upon appraisals of threat. They note that when dealing with employees who have high levels of avoidance and anxiety, managers should understand and appreciate the attachment-related effects of job loss as more than a professional experience, but one that may create a deep level of grief and perceived abandonment. Management-related interventions can be fashioned accordingly to reduce the likelihood of negative reactions such as reputational damage or retaliatory aggression.
Lumina S. Albert and colleagues suggest that negative employee reactions can be prevented or minimized by sharing information about other career opportunities and encouraging them to discover other relationships or interests to facilitate healthy disengagement post-dissolution. In this fashion, understanding the dynamics of dissolution can help soften the blow of a job loss and improve prospects for finding substitute employment.