I did not read this as a lack of empathy. He even addresses your concerns because he emphasizes that the firing process would come after multiple failures of execution or judgement, not a single instance. And he says that a single failure can be a time for a frank discussion where conflicts are outed, addressed, and resolved for good.
I have (unfairly, I believed) been on the receiving end of the normal "Well your performance isn't great, you need to change your attitude before I trigger a PIP", then a PIP...I would rather have had it the way this article describes. Expectations are made clear, opportunities are given for correction, and a gentle-but-firm push out the door is saved for when things are broken.
Yeah, if anything I think this is a more empathetic approach. While consulting, I've seen companies that are afraid of firing, or even talking about firing, because they want to be "nice". That's obviously bad for the organization, as problem people make messes and drive good employees away.
But it's also bad for the people who eventually get fired. Once the situation has soured, going in every day to face hostile or angry people and wondering if it will be your last day is a terrible experience. I've seen it warp troubled people further.
Personally, the thing I'd add to this is to try to help people find something better. Often the problem isn't "fundamentally bad human" it's "human/position mismatch". Firing someone doesn't have to feel like a funeral.
I think for most professionals, the issue is indeed "human/position mismatch". I've been in that mismatch, and trying to make it work despite myself was one of the hardest things I've ever done. One day I had to decide to move on. Then things got better, after some very painful life changes.
I would have respected management far more if they had said "You're just not a good fit here, but you will be somewhere else, and we wish you the best of luck. Let's help you find something better." Does anyone do that?
I have (unfairly, I believed) been on the receiving end of the normal "Well your performance isn't great, you need to change your attitude before I trigger a PIP", then a PIP...I would rather have had it the way this article describes. Expectations are made clear, opportunities are given for correction, and a gentle-but-firm push out the door is saved for when things are broken.