Read Online Conflict of Interest (Employee Relations Book 1) by Teresa Michaels - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Teresa Michaels
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connects her laptop to the projector. She brings up the spreadsheet she apparently sent us all, and we spend over an hour reviewing the gaps in the organization.
Several people throw out requests for additional headcount. Suggestions are made on how to utilize the team in London if we divest part of that business. Some get approved, others are denied. To my surprise Gabriella publicly gives me a one month reprieve on completing the assignment. I can’t seem to figure out if I’m grateful or pissed.
Toward the tail end of the conversation, Gabriella turns her attention to Stan.
“You’ve been fairly quiet, Stan. Any ideas you’ve been tossing around that you’d like to share?”
“Uh, yeah actually. I need three additional headcount,” he asserts.
“What for?” Jack asks curiously.
“To backfill David, Rachael and Tony,” he states as if his proposal to transition them to me is a done deal. “It makes more sense for them to join Lucas’s team. Oh, and based on Tony’s performance I’m also recommending an out of cycle promotion before he goes.”
“Whoa.” Gabriella holds up her hand, halting the conversation. “I agree Davis and Rachael would make good additions to Lucas’s team, but he hasn’t had a chance to fully assess his team yet. It’s too soon to ask Lucas to make that decision. Also, we can talk about Tony offline.”
“We’re all under the code of silence. Let’s talk now,” Stan challenges, leaning forward.
“I agree, I’d like to hear this,” I add.
Gabriella makes a grand sweeping gesture with her hand. “Okay, Stan.”
“Tony has the highest customer satisfaction scores of anyone on my team.”
“On average,” Gabriella contends.
“What’s your concern?” I ask Gabby, giving her my full attention.
“For the last three years, Tony’s performance has dropped for part of the third quarter, all of the fourth, and depending on the season, the first quarter as well.”
“What season are we talking about?” I ask, completely baffled.
“Football,” everyone replies.
“One of our employees plays football?”
Everyone laughs except Stan.
“Not quite. He’s a professional fan,” Mike explains. “Tony has season tickets to the New England Patriots and goes to all home games, travels to some away games too. It’s well known he spends every Sunday hosting parties or tailgating, and often times he’s either too hung over to show up on time, if at all, the following day.”
Damn.
“He’s missed several client engagements because of it,” Mike adds. “He’ll work a ton of hours to make up for, give his extra ticket to people he’s pissed off to smooth things over.”
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Stan counters.
“Because he’s probably taken you to the Super Bowl.” Gabriella replies.
Stan doesn’t admit to that. He doesn’t deny it either.
“Gabby’s right, Stan. I can’t support a promotion for him and you’re not transferring him to Lucas because you don’t want to manage the problem. If he could get his act together and perform consistently year round, it wouldn’t be an issue. You need to deal with this.”
“I have a great team,” Stan retorts.
“You also have the highest attrition rates,” Mike adds under his breath.
“Alright,” Jack impatiently scolds through the oversized monitor. “Stan, you can have two headcount to replace Davis and Rachael if Lucas decides to take them. Moving on.”
The rest of the meeting passes. Everyone packs up and moves on to their next appointment, including Gabriella. Walking back to my office it occurs to me that she just got me the information she wanted me to have without breaching Stan’s confidence. She also bought me time to make my own decision and got my peers to weigh in. What could have taken days to coordinate was resolved in less than five minutes. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I appreciate that.
I pause just outside her door and consider thanking her but I
Several people throw out requests for additional headcount. Suggestions are made on how to utilize the team in London if we divest part of that business. Some get approved, others are denied. To my surprise Gabriella publicly gives me a one month reprieve on completing the assignment. I can’t seem to figure out if I’m grateful or pissed.
Toward the tail end of the conversation, Gabriella turns her attention to Stan.
“You’ve been fairly quiet, Stan. Any ideas you’ve been tossing around that you’d like to share?”
“Uh, yeah actually. I need three additional headcount,” he asserts.
“What for?” Jack asks curiously.
“To backfill David, Rachael and Tony,” he states as if his proposal to transition them to me is a done deal. “It makes more sense for them to join Lucas’s team. Oh, and based on Tony’s performance I’m also recommending an out of cycle promotion before he goes.”
“Whoa.” Gabriella holds up her hand, halting the conversation. “I agree Davis and Rachael would make good additions to Lucas’s team, but he hasn’t had a chance to fully assess his team yet. It’s too soon to ask Lucas to make that decision. Also, we can talk about Tony offline.”
“We’re all under the code of silence. Let’s talk now,” Stan challenges, leaning forward.
“I agree, I’d like to hear this,” I add.
Gabriella makes a grand sweeping gesture with her hand. “Okay, Stan.”
“Tony has the highest customer satisfaction scores of anyone on my team.”
“On average,” Gabriella contends.
“What’s your concern?” I ask Gabby, giving her my full attention.
“For the last three years, Tony’s performance has dropped for part of the third quarter, all of the fourth, and depending on the season, the first quarter as well.”
“What season are we talking about?” I ask, completely baffled.
“Football,” everyone replies.
“One of our employees plays football?”
Everyone laughs except Stan.
“Not quite. He’s a professional fan,” Mike explains. “Tony has season tickets to the New England Patriots and goes to all home games, travels to some away games too. It’s well known he spends every Sunday hosting parties or tailgating, and often times he’s either too hung over to show up on time, if at all, the following day.”
Damn.
“He’s missed several client engagements because of it,” Mike adds. “He’ll work a ton of hours to make up for, give his extra ticket to people he’s pissed off to smooth things over.”
“It’s not that big of a deal,” Stan counters.
“Because he’s probably taken you to the Super Bowl.” Gabriella replies.
Stan doesn’t admit to that. He doesn’t deny it either.
“Gabby’s right, Stan. I can’t support a promotion for him and you’re not transferring him to Lucas because you don’t want to manage the problem. If he could get his act together and perform consistently year round, it wouldn’t be an issue. You need to deal with this.”
“I have a great team,” Stan retorts.
“You also have the highest attrition rates,” Mike adds under his breath.
“Alright,” Jack impatiently scolds through the oversized monitor. “Stan, you can have two headcount to replace Davis and Rachael if Lucas decides to take them. Moving on.”
The rest of the meeting passes. Everyone packs up and moves on to their next appointment, including Gabriella. Walking back to my office it occurs to me that she just got me the information she wanted me to have without breaching Stan’s confidence. She also bought me time to make my own decision and got my peers to weigh in. What could have taken days to coordinate was resolved in less than five minutes. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I appreciate that.
I pause just outside her door and consider thanking her but I
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