I found that 1/2 person. Later in my consultant life there were more of them. It is difficult to describe how one feels when being held responsible if someone gets sacked. I told my friends and their reaction was somewhat mixed - some found it actually funny, some where understanding, and some asked me how I felt about it meaning they were shocked.
Initially, it is difficult to justify this part of my job. And that first company I worked for specialised in that. It is the old American way of thinking that most problems lie in too high a headcount. Nowadays this is far too simplistic and a consultant has to come up with more clever solutions to cash problems than sheer manloading.
Back to my reaction. I felt bad and tought a lot about it. I justified by saying that if it were not me, it would have been someone else who did the job. But that's not good enough.
All in all, I know I am selling a service to my client. This client wants a company which runs on the lowest possible cost and should deliver the highest possible service to the market. A company is not a welfare state, it has to be profitable to survive. And a job is not a lifetime guarantee anymore. Bearing this in mind will make this part of my service offering acceptable. I would do it over and over again.
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