Boss Suspended Over Banking Spanking Row
A Chinese bank has suspended its chairman after a motivational trainer cut off the hair of under-performing employees and smacked their bottoms.
Changzhi Zhangze Rural Commercial Bank hired a training company to run a "performance breakthrough" course, an industry watchdog reported on a government website.
Eight employees - four men and four women - who achieved low scores during the session were paraded on stage in front of colleagues while trainer Jiang Yang walked down the line and spanked their behinds with a large stick.
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One employee responded with "I'm not hard on myself", while another shouted: "I didn't make a breakthrough!"
A third person blamed a lack of teamwork for his poor performance.
Video of the spanking has attracted both amusement and criticism on Chinese social media
"Since when does beating employees become a way of raising performance?" asked Weibo user Denny Tangmashi.
Another declared: "They need to be beaten with a stick!"
According to reports on the Changzhi city government's website, Mr Jiang punished employees further by cutting the women's hair and shaving the men's heads.
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China's banking oversight body described the session as "improper", adding it had suspended the bank's chairman and a deputy governor and ordered Mr Jiang to make a public apology.
Writing on his blog, the trainer absolved the bank of any responsibility.
"Spanking was a training model I have been exploring for many years," he said.