by Susan Wolfe
“That’s a kind of progress, certainly,” Jared responded dryly. “Is there an explanation?”
“Well, the unfortunate micro-trend seems to be occurring in two parts of the company. First, in the last month we have lost a number of fairly senior sales executives, and then we had a mass resignation of tech support people last week.”
“Take those one at a time, if you please,” Larry directed, adjusting a French cuff.
“Of course. To be specific, we have lost thirty sales executives in the last month, concentrated partly over in the UK, but really just an exodus of our best sales executives across the company.” The board members murmured in alarm.
Roy asserted his control of the discussion. “The sales team was very shaken by the unexpected loss of Glen, Larry. That pretty much accounts for the numbers there.”
“Actually,” Sally contradicted, her eyes remaining on Larry, “that doesn’t seem to be quite accurate. We’ve started doing exit interviews on these folk, and Glen’s death is pretty far down the list. If you don’t mind, I’ll get to that data in a minute.
“On the tech support side, a week ago Friday Mark Balog received fifteen resignations in one day . . .”
“Really!” Paul remarked, the waxed dome of his head reflecting more light than the polished table.
“And this week there have been three more.”
“We’re turning all of those around,” Roy declared.
“Great,” Jared responded with a bright smile and elevated eyebrows. “And how are we doing that?”
Sally’s smile was indulgent. “Well, Roy may be a little more hopeful about that than I am. But before we get to solutions, I’d like to talk about causes.”
She tapped her keyboard and a new slide appeared on the screen.
“In the last two weeks we’ve had the dubious pleasure of interviewing thirty-seven employees who have announced they are leaving the company. The departing sales executives cited: poor product reputation due to the premature release of 6.0; inadequate tech support when issues with product installations arise; and lack of confidence that the management team can tackle the hard problems facing the company.
“Three people did cite the loss of Glen Terkes,” she conceded.
“That’s one reason I moved so quickly to get Jonathan Bascom,” Roy inserted.
“What those three said,” Sally continued, raising her voice slightly to drown out the interruption, “was that since they’re going to have a new boss anyway, why not move to a company where the product’s reputation actually helps the sale instead of hindering it?” Had Sally decided to distance herself from Roy under his very nose? Could explain the favorite mustard-colored suit.
“On the tech support side,” Sally continued, “every single person says they are leaving because they do not have adequate resources to allow them to do their work. They feel they’ve been telling that to Mark Balog for weeks, but Mark couldn’t get Roy . . .”
“Was there another reason for tech support, Sally?” Jean-Claude interrupted. So he realized what was happening. Did Roy?
“Yes, the second reason is once again lack of confidence in management. They don’t think management listens, and they don’t believe they’re getting the straight story. Specifically, they think the multimillion dollar renovation is terribly ill-advised, especially when people don’t have the tools and staff they need to do their jobs. They also don’t understand why we were so good at ‘Ship When Ready’ for many years, and then shot ourselves in the foot by putting the 6.0 release out there prematurely. And finally, they were very discouraged by the erroneous preannouncement.” The exact list Georgia had given her. Well done.
Text from Ken: Roy approvd ths prsntation?
Georgia text to Ken: Unknwn. Nt n bord bk.
“Well,” Roy said, “that means we haven’t done a good enough job of educating our employees about why we had to go out with the 6.0 when we did. The real failure was that R&D lagged so far behind in their development efforts. And I’ve explained that damned preannouncement until I’m blue in the face,”
“Actually,” Sally said sweetly, “it seems to be the continuous justification that’s caused the problem. Employees might have accepted that we just blew the numbers. What they can’t accept is the continued insistence that the preannouncement made sense.” Pow! Right in the old kisser.
“It made perfect sense,” Roy snapped. Good morning, Rip van Winkle. Glad you decided to join us.
“Maybe,” Jean-Claude suggested, “we could just quickly move to proposed solutions. Sally?”
“You know,” Roy said. “Sally and I haven’t been over . . .”
“That’s very true.” Sally nodded, “I didn’t have the chance to go over any of this with Roy before the meeting, so I take full responsibility. Or, did you want me not to offer my thoughts, Roy?”
Roy seemed utterly disoriented for a moment as he stared blankly at Sally. “Have at it,” he muttered. What?!
“Well, wait,” Jared objected. “Roy, if you feel the solutions haven’t been thought out properly, maybe we should . . .”
Roy held up his hand, his eyes still on Sally. “No, we’ll proceed. Just keep in mind that I’ll be hearing these ideas for the first time along with the rest of you.” Giving her rope to hang herself, maybe. Could be clever . . .
“Thank you, Roy.” Sally’s smile was courteous. “I recommend doing several things. The single most important thing is to acknowledge our mistakes and spell out changes being made in response. I see no other way to restore confidence.” She brought up a new slide. “I’ve listed the key mistakes here. At least the key ones that can be addressed. There’s really no way to go back and adequately staff the 6.0, now is there?” she asked with a wistful smile. The board did not react.
“First, we should acknowledge that the preannouncement was a flat-out mistake based on erroneous assumptions and inaccurate data. Then we outline the steps we’ll take to get accurate data sooner.”
Georgia text from Ken: “????????”
She caught his eye and carefully kept her face neutral. Any second now, Roy was going to swat Sally like a fly.
“Second, we acknowledge that releasing the product before it was ready has caused huge problems for our customers, our sales execs and tech support. We then outline the steps we’re taking to minimize those problems. Which starts with authorizing Mark to hire twenty new tech support people immediately to help ease the burden.”
“Good,” Clarence called. Georgia glanced at the speakerphone. She’d almost forgotten he was there. “Is that in addition to rehiring the ones who resigned?”
“Yes,” Roy affirmed, as if it had been his idea all along.
“The problem,” Sally cautioned, “is that a number of these people who resigned have already accepted new jobs, and emotionally they’ve moved on. That’s the risk when you decide to push people to the limit. Sometimes they’re beyond the limit before you realize it. It would have been so much better if . . .”
“Thanks, Sally,” Jared interrupted. “Sounds like you know what you have to do there. What else?”
“Well, you recall that one of the big issues is the belief that management isn’t listening. A perfect example of which, by the way, was nobody listening to the tech support team. Another example is our insisting on pushing ahead with the renovation, when the sentiment against it is overwhelming.”
Roy was now looking at Sally with frank astonishment. Why on earth didn’t he shut her up?
“So the last thing,” Sally continued, “is to stop the renovation now, and tell the employees we are stopping it because we hear and respect their views on the matter.”
Text from Ken: Tryng 2 sink rnovation rite undr Roy’s nose!!!
Georgia response: I-witness 2 hstry. Tiger escapes frm Grt Hmn Circus and bites Sacrd Cow!
“Can you explain why this renovation is quite unwelcome?” Jean-Claude requested.
Roy finally interrupted. “Gentleman, this is somet
hing that has been fully budgeted for many months, and we’re not going to waste your time on it. The plan will improve communication among the rank-and-file and management.”
“But the so-called rank-and-file don’t agree with you, Roy,” Sally pointed out. “That has now . . .”
“Sounds like Roy doesn’t want to spend time on this, Sally,” Paul said. “If there’s nothing else . . .”
“Well, there is one more thing.” Sally pushed ahead, undeterred by restless stirring among the board members. “We’ve talked about certain ways we haven’t been listening. The other problem is what we’re doing to convince them that we are listening.”
With that, Sally turned the cover page of a flip chart near the back of the room to reveal a poster with the heads of two cartoon characters, each with a hand cupped behind a grotesquely enlarged ear. Across the top of the poster in big, red block letters were the words “Management is listening!!” Then around the two heads in wavy blue or yellow letters were the words “Free Friday donuts!” and “More wine at parties!” and “Suggestion boxes on every floor!”
“We seem to have gotten the idea,” Sally said, “that posters saying we listen are just as good as listening.” Wow, she’d thought up something beyond Georgia’s list. Sally was trying to take Roy out at one fell swoop.
The board members stared at the poster for a moment in complete silence.
“That’s great,” Jared said lightly. “Who’s, uh, responsible for this poster?”
“Sally’s team is running the initiative,” Roy responded.
“Exactly as Roy directed,” Sally added sweetly. “This one garnered seventeen mustaches in three days.”
Text from Ken: Pt Sally on suicide watch. She already had. Those bright red cherries were starting to look like bloodstains.
“You know,” Jared said, “I think it’s about time to wrap this up for today. I’ve got a call scheduled in about ten minutes.”
“Absolutely,” Jean-Claude confirmed, “I’d say we are finished. Thanks to everyone for coming.”
“Roy,” Larry said, with his wide, cold smile, “the board would like to meet with you separately for five minutes. Ken, can you remain with us as well?”
Georgia rushed down the hall and ducked into a conference room. Holding her breath, she dialed the conference number and put her phone on mute.
“Roy.” Larry’s voice came through the speakerphone. “I just have one question. What bad thing did you do to your Human Resources executive to make her want to end your life?” Laughter. “Did you forget her birthday? Did you kidnap her children?”
“She did seem rather critical of me today. I was surprised. She never voiced these concerns before that I know of.”
“Those weren’t concerns, Roy,” Jared corrected. “Those were stabbing motions with a sharp knife.” Laughter. “That was Kill Bill in the corporate setting.” More laughter. There in the safety of her conference room, Georgia pumped both fists in the air. Score!
“So our question,” Jean-Claude continued, “is whether you know a good explanation for this, or do you need a different vice president of Human Resources pretty much immediately? We fully support a change.”
“I’d say we even encourage a change,” Clarence called through the phone. “I know I do.”
“And Ken is right here to handle the legal requirements,” Larry added.
“Well, wait a minute,” Roy objected. “If one of my executives disagrees with me, don’t we want them to speak up? Isn’t that what we pay them for?”
Georgia’s fists froze in the air above her head, and she stared at the phone in confusion.
“In the privacy of your office, absolutely,” Larry agreed. “Not as a public hanging in the town square.” Murmured agreement.
“I guess what we’re saying here, Roy,” Jared said, “is that this looked deliberate. It really qualifies as lying in wait, and we think that’s a capital offense.”
But Roy objected again. “Guys, I think we’re going way overboard here.”
Georgia dropped her fists onto the table and stared at the phone in utter dismay.
“I don’t have an explanation yet,” Roy continued, “but I’m confident this is just a misunderstanding. Sally is my loyal and trusted advisor, and I wouldn’t want to do this job without her. I think my reputation is solid enough to withstand a little criticism. I’ll talk to her. Some coaching is called for, but otherwise we’re fine as is.”
Georgia clapped both hands over her mouth to suppress a groan, even though the mute button remained brightly lit.
“Your call,” Jared said. “Several of us would take a different approach, but of course we defer to your judgment. Just know that if you change your mind, we’re right there with you.”
“Understood. Won’t be necessary.”
There was a moment of awkward silence. “Then if we have finished,” Jean-Claude said, “I can still hope to make my plane. See you all the next time. And Roy?”
“Yes, Jean-Claude.”
“I hope you will think a bit more about the renovation.”
“And lose those posters immediately,” Larry directed. “They’re ridiculous.”
Georgia rushed back to her cube before Ken returned to his office.
Georgia could concentrate under almost any circumstances, but for the next two hours she could only concentrate on the agonizingly slow passage of time. She envisioned Sally appearing in the entrance to her cube, brandishing a scythe and sporting black shrunken heads on a mustard yellow Grim Reaper shroud. She half hoped Ken would call her in to talk about Sally, but she didn’t seek him out because she sort of feared that as well. The fact was that either conversation would require a level of play-acting she wasn’t quite up to at the moment. She needed to find her bearings, which definitely required one of those after-dinner trips to her car.
At ten to noon she gave up. This couldn’t wait for nighttime. She snatched her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and her purse from her desk drawer, and almost ran down the stairwell to her car. To avoid being noticed she made herself drive at an orderly speed out the exit and around the corner to the back side of the eucalyptus trees that bordered the lot. The morning cloud cover had given way to bright sun, so she parked in the shade cast by the eucalyptus trees and just stared for a moment at two squirrels twitching their buoyant, dandelion tails as they chased each other through the dappled shadows on the sidewalk and skittered up the rough bark of a tree.
Roy wasn’t going to fire Sally. Which meant big trouble for Georgia down the road, unless she could find a way to head it off. Sally was bound to figure out she’d made up the whole stairwell conversation. And what if Roy figured out who’d tutored Sally?
But why wasn’t Roy going to fire her? Here was a guy who absolutely reeked contempt along with his Old Spice deodorant, directing his withering gaze at every person who crossed his path. Just itching to catch somebody doing something he could blame and insult them for. But then when Sally staged a coup against him right under his beaky little nose, he rose to her defense like a knight defending a damsel. Why??
Was he possibly so dense he didn’t get it? Sally hadn’t been subtle. The only thing less subtle would have been to shoot him with a cannonball. Nikki said he had the social awareness of a fireplug, but even a fireplug would have popped a valve and started spraying. Not to mention the board had spelled it out for him.
He got it.
So was he showing his merciful side, giving his loyal henchperson a second chance? From somewhere inside the swaying eucalyptus trees, a crow cawed its throaty derision.
Okay. Not merciful. Maybe he was just really good at ignoring things that didn’t fit what he wanted to believe. A surprising number of people had that skill, as any practitioner of special talents could confirm. What if all Roy’s hostility and aggression masked a lonely soul who couldn’t face betrayal by his one true friend?
She half expected to hear the crow again.
Okay, unlikely bu
t at least plausible. Though if this guy did have a soft side, he certainly hid it well. He never courted favor with anyone, including the members of his own board. Unless you counted those vulgar poop stories, which had the opposite effect of making them run for the door. He almost seemed to prefer keeping people at a distance. Didn’t even banter with Sally much, or make eye contact with her for that matter, despite the fact that she beamed at him with that dreamy, emetic admiration.
Georgia glared out the windshield and sighed. It didn’t matter how clearly she’d read Sally if she’d missed something critical about Roy. She needed to rethink Roy entirely. She needed to look at the actual Roy, instead of just recycling her own ideas about him, exactly as her father had taught her.
Transferring her untouched peanut butter and jelly sandwich to the driver’s seat, she scooted over to the passenger side, pulled her legs into the simple lotus position, closed her eyes and began to breathe deeply. After a few minutes, she noticed she was visualizing the look of hatred Roy had leveled at Sally in the board meeting that day, while he was thinking about something else. Why revisit that now?
Two minutes later she opened her eyes and smiled faintly as she luxuriated in another deep inhalation. Sally had something on Roy.
Well, of course. Roy’s glare really had been directed at Sally, after all. His fault lines now floated lightly on the surface of her consciousness, like a magic map to buried treasure. Suddenly ravenous, she dropped her feet onto the floor mat, pulled open the Ziploc bag and savored a big bite of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Sally had something on Roy.
So what was it?
CHAPTER 26
Katie-Ann forgot it was her turn to make dinner, so Georgia made grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches with a side of slightly limp raw carrots. Then Katie-Ann scrubbed away at the heavy skillet in penance while Georgia used a Lipton teabag to make tea for both of them. Rotating the chip in her dark blue mug to the far side of the rim, she settled herself at the rickety card table in the living room to discover the source of Sally’s leverage over Roy.