wasn’t every day she was summoned to
the CEO’s office.
A few moments of small talk prolonged the awkwardness, but Helen
got to the point as quickly as possible.
“Adrienne, I’ve heard an alarming rumor –that you might be considering
a job elsewhere. I certainly hope this
isn’t true.”
Adrienne looked down at the coffee
table and then around the room as if to
see who might have spilled the beans.
“Rumors spread fast around here,” she
said finally.
“I want you to tell me the truth – in total confidence, no repercussions,” Helen
said pleadingly. She paused for effect. “Is
Tom Forsythe talking to you?”
Adrienne’s eyes widened slightly, and
her answer seemed, to Helen, a little too
quick. “Tom has nothing to do with this,”
she said. “I mean, it’s true that I talk to
him. We’ve known each other for a long
time – since I got here, five years ago.
He’s probably the closest thing I’ve had
to a mentor. And I guess I do feel a little
lost now that he’s gone.”
“Well, my job is to make sure that you
don’t feel lost. We really value you around
here, and I want you to be happy. I don’t
want you to even think about leaving.”
She paused. “Is it possible that Bob could
play more of that mentoring role?”
With an uncomfortable shrug, Adrienne began formulating a careful response. “Well, it’s not so much, um…”
Her voice trailed away.
Helen let her off the hook. “Well, let’s
figure out how we can fill that void.” It
was clear that Adrienne wasn’t being
totally forthcoming but impossible to
know how much she was withholding.
Of course, she would know better than
to say that Tom was recruiting her, even
if he was. Recalling Bob’s note of desperation earlier, Helen made a decision. “In
fact, maybe you would let me play a little
of that role myself. I’m promoting you.”
Which Is Worse?
“Helen, you can’t do that! Adrienne’s
only a level-six employee – she’ll drown
in that position.”
Helen had known that the suddenness of her executive decision would not
sit well with Mary, but the intensity of
Mary’s reaction surprised her. She had,
after all, succeeded in keeping Adrienne
on board. “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Helen offered in her
own defense.
“But that’s just it,” Mary cried. “It will
look like an act of desperation to anyone
who heard the rumor. And worse than
that, it isn’t fair. If that job is available,
there are other people who should get a
crack at it. It’s not right that they should
effectively be penalized because they
were the loyal ones. What kind of signal
does that send?”
“I’ll tell you what signal I think it
sends. It tells people that we aren’t so
constrained by HR procedures that we
can’t make exceptions for fast-rising
talent. That’s a positive message. And
as for Adrienne, don’t worry about her.
Everyone loves her. She’ll step up to
the plate.”
Mary shook her head. “It’s not a question of popularity or attitude. She’s missing some of the competencies…”
“Well, aren’t we all!” Helen interrupted.
“Sometimes I think we focus too much
on the things that aren’t quite perfect. If
Adrienne were on the outside and sent
us her résumé, we’d say she was perfect
for this job. Tell me that’s not true.”
The Voice of the People
A few weeks after the tense encounters
over Adrienne, Mary tapped again at
Helen’s door.
“Survey results time,” Mary called
out in a singsong voice, glad that she
and Helen were back on a happy footing. She sat down across the desk from
Helen and handed over a copy of a
chart-saturated report. “I’ll give you
the big picture first. Overall, people at
Sambian are quite satisfied with just
about every aspect of their employment
experience.”
Helen groaned.
“I know, I know,” Mary continued, “but
once you get into the details, there are
some nuances.” She offered a few ex-
amples of departments whose results diverged from the averages. And, as always,
the open-ended questions had yielded
food for thought. Commenting anonymously on their survey forms, a few employees had complained of too much
deadwood in the project manager ranks.
One staffer referred to “certain prima
donnas” who cared more about winning
awards than staying on budget. The administrative staff was, for the most part,
neutral. Some resented the evening and
weekend hours they spent when, as
one phrased it, “someone higher up the
chain procrastinated.” The perks were
good. The perks were bad. The perks
were skewed to the younger employees.
The younger employees didn’t feel valued enough.
Helen listened for 20 minutes, saying
little but shaking her head frequently.
Then, when Mary was in the middle
of reading a comment about the snack
and beverage choices in the kitchen, she
interrupted.
“Oh, that one was mine,” she joked.
Mary played along. “I thought so. And
don’t worry, I’m on the case.” But she
knew the boss had heard enough for the
moment. Closing the report cover, she
leaned back in her chair. “I know it’s hard
to separate the signal from the noise
here, but at least it gives me some more
ideas about what to probe for when I’m
talking to people one-on-one.”
“And that might be enough,” Helen
said, “if only they would give us straight
answers.”
How can Sambian discover what’s
really driving people out the door?
Four commentators offer expert advice
beginning on the next page.
Edward E. Lawler III (elawler@marshall.
usc.edu) is the Distinguished Professor
of Business at the University of Southern
California’s Marshall School of Business and the founder and director of the
university’s Center for Effective Organizations. His latest book is Talent: Making
People Your Competitive Advantage
(Jossey-Bass, 2008).
