both subdued, having read the memo
bearing the news of Tom’s departure.
“Tom sort of checked out when we
lost that Marko bid,” Savannah ventured.
“He really wanted to see that design get
built. It was gorgeous, with all that light
and air. And anyone could see that the
price was right.”
Hal agreed. “The design couldn’t have
been better.” He lowered his voice a little.
“If only Paul Bonney had been able to
point that out.”
Paul Bonney was the head of architecture sales. Savannah stared at Hal.
“You thought so, too,” she said. “His pitch
sounded so, well, uninspired.”
be as simple as that. Two kids now. He’ll
be worrying about college funds.”
Savannah jumped back into the conversation. “True, but you’d think he’d
also be worried about quality of life. I
guess Alyson must have decided not to
go back to work. They’ll have him on the
road constantly.”
This Is Not a Drill
A month later, Helen was scanning a
staff utilization report when the phone
rang. The phone’s display showed that
the call was coming from Bob Wor-tham, the vice president of engineering.
Through the open door, Helen saw her
“We really value you around here, and
I want you to be happy. I don’t want
you to even think about leaving.”
Adrienne Perle, another colleague
from engineering, couldn’t help overhearing as she reached past them for
some utensils. “He’s uninspired,” Adrienne said. “And he’s not the only one.
It’s really a pity when you have someone
doing incredibly creative work, and the
support structure isn’t there to let it see
the light of day. All the salespeople focus on is cutting the deal. If you ask me,
that’s why Tom is leaving. He’s a first-class architect, but if he doesn’t have
first-class sales and marketing behind
him, he’s no one. He’s the tree falling in
the forest. I’ve tried telling people upstairs that we’re veering off base. But
nobody’s listening.”
Hal shook his head. “I don’t know,
guys. Tom had plenty of wins. More
work than he could handle. I just think
he looked above him and realized he
was going nowhere fast. No one on the
executive team is even close to retiring,
and the org chart is top-heavy as it is.
Where’s the career path?”
Adrienne pulled a sour face, indicating agreement. “I wonder how much
he’ll make as a partner at J&N? It could
assistant, Jessie, move to pick it up at her
own desk.
“I’ve got it, Jess,” she said, lifting the
receiver. “Hi, Bob. What’s up?”
“I might need your help on something.
I’m afraid we’re at risk of losing Adrienne. It’s just a rumor so far, but I want
to jump on the situation.”
Helen grimaced. “Adrienne? You’re
right – we don’t want to lose her. Why
don’t you come up now?”
Hanging up, Helen called out to Jessie. “Can you see if Mary is free? If she
can make time right now, that would
be great.”
She stood up, walked over to the window, and pressed her forehead against
the cool glass. On the plaza below, a few
late lunchers clustered around a vendor’s stainless-steel cart. She closed her
eyes. Another loss for Bob, she thought.
Was he part of the problem? She shook
her head, refusing to pursue that line
of thought. The best way to decrease
attrition surely couldn’t be to fire loyal
employees.
In the hallway outside Helen’s office,
Bob ran into Mary. As he relayed the
rumor about Adrienne, Mary felt the
blood start to drain from her face.
“It’ll be a real problem if we lose Adrienne,” Bob said. “She’s in the thick of a
huge project, and the client loves her.”
He gave Mary a hard look as they passed
Jessie’s desk. “What’s going on here, anyway? It’s like our talent is being sucked
out by vampires.”
Hearing them enter, Helen turned
away from the window. “OK, Bob,” she
said. “What exactly is this rumor?”
“People are picking up a vibe that
she might follow Tom to J&N,” Bob began, pulling the door shut. “The two of
them were kind of on a wavelength. It
wouldn’t surprise me if he wanted to
find a home for her there.”
Helen shot a look at Mary. “No non-compete?” Presumably, Tom had signed
the standard contract preventing him
from taking talent or clients with him to
the competition.
“Oh, sure,” Mary replied. “Tough to enforce, though,” she added, immediately
wishing she hadn’t.
“Oh, I’ll find a way,” Helen spat. “Even
if I can’t win, I can make life tough
for him.”
Mary and Bob exchanged glances.
Helen turned to Bob, on the offensive
now. “So you’re telling me we shouldn’t
be surprised, but I’m also getting the
sense that you haven’t done anything in
anticipation of this.” She couldn’t resist
adding a swipe at Mary. “And why are
you waiting around for the satisfaction
survey results before taking any action?”
Mary opened her mouth as if to object,
but Helen waved her hand impatiently.
“OK, look,” she said. “I’ll talk to her. Let
me see what I can do.” She walked to the
door and opened it.
“Jess, call Adrienne Perle and ask if
she’s available. I want to see her as soon
as possible.”
Oh, Won’t You Stay?
Ten minutes later, Adrienne appeared
in Helen’s doorway. Her heavy-framed
designer glasses made it a little difficult
to read the expression on her face, but
her body language signaled anxiety. It
