A video of a trainer spanking Chinese banking company employees with what appears to be a wooden plank has sparked a public outcry.

The video, originally posted by the Chinese People’s Daily, shows a trainer publically punishing employees for not succeeding at work, while an audience watches. The video was filmed by someone in the audience.

“Why did you rank the lowest today?” the trainer was caught on tape asking.

The workers, lined up in a row, answered “Because I have not exceeded myself”, one by one.

Then, after saying “get your butts ready,” the trainer spanks each of them four times from behind. The punished employees seem to try their best to hold still, although one woman can be seen wincing in apparent pain.

The woman, recoiling in pain, tries to cover her hip and the trainer scolds her, saying, “take off your hand!”

According to People’s Daily, the “Breakthrough in Performance” training was held for Rural Commercial Bank employees in Changzhi, China. The trainers were hired from Hongfed Leadership Academy in Shanghai.

One of the trainers graded the employees’ performance, and punished those who did not perform well by spanking and cutting hair.

An unnamed staff member told the Beijing Times that the spanking was only a part of the training. Another 16 employees were forced to have their heads shaved as a punishment, according to the source.

Two executives from the bank have been suspended from work, according to South China Morning Post. The bank said the training was stopped and economic compensation for the punished employees is being discussed.