Book 5: Association
ASSOCIATION / CH. 1:BOXING DAY
TUESDAY, 26TH DECEMBER, 9AM
“Hi, May!” John Williams said, opening the door to his wife's new assistant, “How's life?”
“Apart from eating too much for the past 2 days, it's fine.” she said.
“So, you're ready for a hard day's work?” Sarah asked from the kitchen, “or would you like a turkey sandwich first?”
“Please, mercy!” May begged, clutching her stomach.
“Sorry, I had a lie-in, this is my breakfast.”
“I skipped it.”
“Not the best idea.”
“We didn't finish dinner until after midnight!” May protested.
“OK, we'll feed you when you're hungry then. I'm assuming you're eating with us, is that OK?”
“Yes. But I'm going to get so fat.”
“I seriously doubt it.” Sarah replied. “Getting fat needs consistent over-eating, not just one or two big meals.”
“Or sitting around doing nothing much.” John added “Which I don't think either of you are going to qualify for at the moment.”
“No.” Sarah agreed. “So, May, here's the plan. First, I fill you in on things that are up in the air at the moment, and shouldn't be dropped. Second, we look at my very very rough draft for the loan support, or whatever we're going to call it. Third, we look at what I might call the problem children, that's to say companies that seem to be in trouble despite the best efforts of GemSmith gurus. We'll look at our options for dealing with them, try to gather as much information we can, and see if we can come up with anything short of a personal visit to bash heads together.”
“And what do we do after lunch?” May quipped.
“Reevaluate your pay scale, if you manage all that before the end of the day.” John chipped in.
“John, stop it.”
“Have you heard about urgent and important scoring?” Sarah asked May.
“Urm, probably not.”
“Very easy approach to getting things done. Every task gets a score on how urgent they are and how important they are. You then allocate time for all the important ones and then have to juggle the urgent ones into the time available. If you get it right, then it means that when you run out of time then if there's something urgent but unimportant, then maybe it won't get done, but the important things will. For example maybe there's something you want to watch on some entertainment channel. Urgent, but not important. If theres a conflict between say, that, spending time doing revision, and getting to school on time for and exam, then we know what ought to happen, don't we?”
“Yeah. But in real life what would happen is I'd skip the revision, watch the program, spend time chatting about it to friends, and get to school late for the exam.”
“Really?” Sarah asked.
“In my past life. I'd disappoint you if it happened again, wouldn't I?”
“You'd also break your contract.” John said.
“I don't remember anything about that in there.” May said.
“Right. Good point John. I think that this is important and since it's about you working for me and this is your first day, it's probably urgent too. One contract. Which terms apply to this?”
“Urm... that one, conduct myself and dress in a professional manner?”
“That's one, yes.”
“In no way act to bring you into disrepute?”
“Good. And?”
“I don't know.”
“What would cause you to act like that.”
“Getting my priorities mixed up. Just, you know... ignoring what I knew was right and doing what I felt like.”
“Yes. What sort of behaviour is that?”
“Stupid?” May guessed.
“That too. You're almost here.”
“It's sort of hedonistic, isn't it?” she said, picking on a long word she vaguely understood.
“Describe hedonism.” Sarah pushed.
“Doing things just because they feel good?”
“Not quite. It's a belief system that says the best thing you should do is the one which brings you the most pleasure.”
“That's... that's crazy!”
“If you say it's worldwide and long term, then it's not bad too bad, actually, especially if you include God's righteous judgement. But if you only apply it to the individual then it's a sort of anarchy, actually.”
“An immoral sort.” May said.
“Exactly. Without all those caveats I said, it turns into total failure of self control. Short range hedonism is the extreme — it says self-control is wrong. Take the forbidden fruit. It can be modified, with a 'long term' bit in there, in which case the forbidden fruit might stay on the tree because of the long-term pain that it would bring, but it depends on how much the individual knows. 'It doesn't hurt anyone' is basically the hedonist's way of saying 'I can do that if I think it'll bring any pleasure at all.' And that's what the age of chaos was about. And being late for exams. It's a moral failure.”
“And since my behaviour reflects on you, I'm contracted to behave in a morally impeccable way.” May said.
“Exactly, but not just because your behaviour reflects on me. A truthsayer is a professional thought-hearer, and you're the first one around here. You're going to be demonstrating the standard of behaviour appropriate for people who follow you into that profession. At some point in time there might be a even need to a professional body to represent truthsayers to government, give them training and so on, like lawyers have. Given that you're the first, you're probably also going to be quite a public member of that organisation. Again, moral failure on your part would reflect badly on the entire organisation.”
“Oh, wow.”
John had been thinking about this too. “That's one option, anyway. Another option is that truthsayers end up viewed much the same as other people who exploit their natural talents near the legal field, say like private detectives. Think how often they get shown in films as morally questionable people who work from dingy offices and how other people in the legal profession treat them as scum. Partly that's because they get involved in domestic disputes and divorce cases, but let's face it, a truth-sayer could do that too. Probably there are thought-hearers who are already private detectives, I'm sure it would be a useful skill, in which case, you've got an up-hill battle if you want your profession to be a hundred percent respectable.”
“So, you've actually got to decide fairly soon.” Sarah pointed out “Are you interested in there being official recognition that professional truthsayers are a highly ethical individuals among the thought-hearing community committed to maintaining professional standards of the highest integrity, or are you content that anyone who's a thought-hearer can call themselves a truthsayer, no matter what their ethics code? I expect that the government would be interested in your answer.”
“You're joking, aren't you?” May looked at them, agog.
“No," John grinned.
“I know what I'd like to see, but you're the one who's actually employed in that job. I'm just an undercover thought-hearer.”
“But I haven't done anything yet.”
“No, but I saw you talking to Karen's friend at the wedding.”
“She said it was essential that I speak the truth while keeping irrelevant things secret. And she spoke about having a little ritual where she announced her power to people, and said it helped to make people hesitate about lying in the first place. It was... very religious. It went something like 'I'm a servant of the God of Abraham, who's given me the power to hear the truth you whisper in your mind when your voice lies, and a voice to speak it out.' or something like that. I got the impression that it would get me very funny looks if I tried it here.”
“I understand that its a society where public declaration of religion is treated very seriously.” Sarah said.
“But if I could say that I'm a member of a legally registered professional organisation with a sworn duty to... what? Keep quiet about stray personal thoughts while exposing the truth in the case before me... something like that? That'd work, wouldn't it?”
“I think that would be much more culturally acceptable here. Yes.” Sarah agreed.
John said “Why not go the whole hog, May? Get a royal charter.”
“What?” May was shocked.
“Present the case to Prince Albert. Tell him that that you'd imagine truthsayers being useful in legal cases as well as your role working for Sarah, but you don't want just anyone being able to set up as a truthsayer and so devalue the term, and that there should be professional, ethical and moral standards they hold to, and so on. Would he think there ought to be a legal definition, or some kind of professional organisation with a royal charter incorporating the standards, and an appropriate oath to the crown?”
“Just for me?”
“No, Just so that people who follow you into this profession don't do it lightly.”
“I think I might have done it lightly.” May admitted.
“Getting cold feet?”
“I don't mind being telling a few people a week that I can hear their thoughts, but I'm not sure if I want to be giving interviews on national news channels declaring that.”
“No. I think it's entirely appropriate that your identity be protected. Otherwise you become a potential target for all sorts of things.” Sarah said. “Quite how is another thing to discuss.”
“If there was a royal charter, and legal standing, then could professional anonymity be part of it?” John asked, “you know, like with the institute?”
“I don't really see why not.” Sarah said, “But there'd have to be some kind of register that people could check up on.”
“Yes. Why not have the Institute involved, actually? If the Institute held the register, then we could also assess people as being worthy and so on.” John suggested.
“And if the either the institute or eventually the professional body would be able to serve as go-between, then the employer wouldn't even need to know who was working for them.” John added, “So there'd be real professional anonymity, which would probably be a real help for getting more people to join.”
“So it wouldn't be a request from me, personally, but the institute asking on behalf of people like me? Please let it be that way!” May begged, “Please!”
“Nervous?”
“Of course!” May said.
“Why? You've danced with the man.”
“That was... incredibly embarrassing.”
“Really? Why?”
“Urm, age difference, status difference, things like that.”
“You mean you think he's too good for you?”
“He's not available. Eliza's got him.”
“That is true, so, why do you think he danced with you and May?”
“I'm not sure, really. Why did you dance with Tim?”
“May asked me to. What about you?”
“Ditto. And Tim's a good catch. I thought maybe May was half-way dumping him.”
“He did too, I over-heard a little heart to heart they had.”
“What was she doing?”
“Trying to protect him. She thought they'd agreed not to dance, and him wanting to was, you know, pushing the limits.”
“But they hadn't?”
“He said something about a school dance.”
“If it's anything like the one at my school... Thank you for talking to me when you did, Sarah, if I'd still been hiding from God...”
“You'd have gone?”
“Actually, I went, with some other girls. But with a very different attitude. And we took some cameras.”
“Cameras?”
“I thought 'now what might help my foolish friends think about what they're doing?' and so I let it be known that we'd be prowling the dance floor and the dark corners, in the interests of a special edition of school newspaper, to record in history the last school dance in the hall before it's flattened.”
“Oh, I think I see!”
“I don't think I've ever been to a school dance where so many people were actually dancing rather than sneaking away into corners.”
“This was all your idea?”
“Well, a friend on the school paper had just dumped her boyfriend for two-timing her, so I just dropped the idea of a special edition, and she thought it would be a lovely idea. Especially since she was fairly sure that ex-boyfriend was planning on spending as much time as possible trying to get to the other girl's tonsils. Or worse. Then it sort of spiraled, and there were ten of us with cameras, and got the head on-board to announce what we were doing. She pointed out that they put it onto the school's site because of course parents and grandparents would want to look see us all having a lovely time.”
John laughed “Well done, May. There's nothing like a little bit of public exposure to help keep most people sane.”
“So, May. If I got Kate to write to the palace, would you be prepared to add something?”
“Yes, I guess so. As long as it's not just from me.”
“Thank you. It won't be just from you anyway. I'll add a bit too, from an employer's point of view.” Sarah promised.
“Not from a not-a-professional truth-sayer, but thought-hearer point of view?” John asked.
“Hmm, I guess I could. You could, too, actually.”
“All right. I'd probably say that I fully support the formation of the list for people wanting to earn their money from their power, and feel this professional body would be an excellent way for people to feel safe about entering into a short or long-term contract either as employer or truth-sayer.”
“Getting back to the prince dancing with you. Do you really have no idea?”
“It might be something about the monarchy being accessible. Is that it?”
“That's a big part. Yes.” Sarah said.
“You know that?”
“I asked. It was pretty clear that he'd have preferred to dance with Eliza the whole time.”
“I saw you swap with her.” May said.
“Well, why shouldn't they have some time to dance together? It doesn't need to be all business all of the time. Speaking of which, can we start with the original agenda now?”
“Of course.” May said.
“Right. Things up in the air.”
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TUESDAY, 26TH DECEMBER, 9AM, ANCHORAGE TIME.
Madeline's wrist unit bleeped that there was an urgent work message. Automatically, she looked at it. “It's from my boss.” she told Robert.
“Oh, what's it say?”
“It says 'Just had very unusual message from head office, saying you had got married. Have they got their information wrong? Or why didn't you say? Please call back, A.S.A.P.'”
“I guess you'd better call then.”
“I think I should. Sorry.”
“You'd better put some more clothes on first, my playful flame.” He kissed her to emphasise his point.
“So had you. He might want to interview you.”
“Today's a public holiday!”
“I know that, he knows that, but I guess head office might not.”
“Or might not care. OK.”
“Should I wear my flame dress, or something more... normally me?”
“I like your flame dress.”
“I know you do. That's not the question. Do I wear it in public, or should I put the green?”
“Urm. With your shawl?”
“Good idea. OK.”
----------------------------------------
“Good morning. Madeline Trent here.”
“So it's true? You're really married?”
“Yes. It was a bit of a surprise, but Robert came back on Friday, and my parents thought it made more sense for us to marry soon. A few weeks wouldn't make any difference for his folks.”
“I'm trying to get my head round the idea of a marriage arranged in a day, without even an engagement period.”
“Oh, we've been engaged since we were about ten. Robert's been out of the country for a long time. My parents only told me he was coming on Friday. But then, he didn't know he'd manage it much before then.”
“Well, congratulations! The note said that the owner of GemSmith, if you can believe that, has said that you'd just got married and your new husband would probably suit one or two of our vacancies. And that if I did find a post for him with suitable accommodation for you two, then she'd be very grateful.”
“I didn't believe she'd get to work that quickly! Wow.”
“You knew that something like this was coming?”
“Well, Sarah said she'd ask....”
“You know the owner of GemSmith?”
“Well, that's putting it far too strongly. She paid for Robert get home from where he was jobless and running out of money, and then she was checking up that he'd got here safely and heard we were getting married. She talked to me on Saturday. She sounds like a nice person.”
“Oh. Well, anyway, she thinks Robert could work for us. You typed up the vacancy list. What do you think?”
“He might. I don't really know. You know, it's a semi-arranged marriage. Just because we've been engaged for ages doesn't mean we've been best of friends all that time, or sharing our inmost thoughts. Quite the opposite in fact.”
“But you're happy now?” he sounded worried.
“That's a culturally inappropriate question, sir.” That got Robert's attention and she mouthed to him 'am I happy?' Could she answer?
In response Robert kissed her ear and whispered 'Phen leske o chachimos.'
“But my husband says I should tell you the truth. So.. very Our inmost thoughts have been going in the same direction. We're both hoping to train to be teachers, and he's found out that there's some sort of government support because we speak Romani.”
“So I've only got you until start of term?”
“I was wondering if I could stay on part-time. I've no idea what the course is like, but, I don't want to leave entirely, if that's acceptable.”
“That's very acceptable.” he said. Then realised it wasn't just his decision, or hers, by the sound of it. “At least, it is to me. Do I need to find out what your husband thinks of that idea, too?”
“Shall I pass you over?” Maddie asked.
“First, have you shown your husband the vacancy list?”
“I was going to, but...”
“You had other things to think about, I'm sure. I really am sorry for interrupting your honeymoon like this, but the memo from head office asked for a reply by tonight.”
“It's OK, sir.”
“Right, well, could you please show him the list, talk him through anything he doesn't know about the job or the company and then when he's decided which vacancy he's applying for give me a buzz, and I'll call you back and give him a telephone interview.”
“Oh, OK, sir, yes, I can do that.”
“Good. Talk to you soon. Bye.” He hung up.
“So what did he ask you to do?”
“I've got to pull up the vacancy list from the company site, answer any questions you might have, and ring him back when you know which job you're applying for.”
“You think you'll know all the answers?”
“I hope so. I had the job of typing up the vacancies, and if someone calls about one of them then I'm supposed to be able to give all the answers.”
“Maddie, what is your job? I thought you were receptionist/secretary, but your dad was talking about you working at home.”
“The office isn't very big at the moment, Robert. The administrative staff consists of the director, accountant, and me. There are doctors and other medical staff, and their support staff, and we're expanding, so there's lots of extra things falling on everyone's plates, so I've been earning some overtime too.”
“So you handle appointment booking as well as everything else?”
“No, that's left to the medical people, praise God. I don't really want to hear about back aches and lost prescriptions. We deal with staffing, taxes, stuff like that.”
“That sounds like a good job, Maddie. You'd really chuck it all in to be a teacher with me?”
“Yes, I would... I think... I don't know. I mean, it's what I think God's calling me to, but maybe that was just to make sure I melted at your saying you'd like me to train with you, and now God's going to call me in another direction. I really don't know. I mean, I've never faced a classroom full of kids. That's one reason that I don't want to resign entirely, just go part-time. But, on the other hand, I think if I can cope with a staff meeting of bickering doctors, then I can cope with a few runny noses.”
“Bickering doctors?”
“They're human too, Robbie. 'He's got a bigger office than me, it's not fair.' OK, I'm exaggerating, they're not quite that bad. It's more like 'In my previous place of work seniority was reflected in both the pay-packet and working environment. I was led to believe that this was the case here too, however I find that my modest requests are not dealt with in a speedy manner. ' In other words, what happened to that extra-comfy chair that I requested.”
“How on earth do you reply to that one?”
“I defer to my boss, and he points our point out that the extra-comfy chair he's requested costs more than his monthly salary, wouldn't actually fit in his office without him switching back to the table that he got rid of last year as not being fit for a man of his station, and based on how often he's in his office these days, he'd hardly sit in it anyway.”
“So, you're saying it's not all harmony and light?”
“It's just that one doctor, mostly. As a doctor he knows his stuff, but he certainly hasn't learnt much about humility.”
“I saw adverts for Emerald Health Insurance when I was in the plane. Is Emerald Medical totally unrelated, or is sort of an in-house private clinic which Emerald Health Insurance calls on?”
“I think it started that way. But, at the moment, Emerald Health Insurance hardly has any customers here. The market is already pretty much saturated, and EHI's policy has never been to compete on price. Emerald Medical, however, is doing quite well.”
“If Emerald doesn't compete on price, then what does it compete on?”
“Simplicity, and plain language. They don't cover elective surgery, they don't cover drugs that just give people a few more months of life for a terminal illness, they don't cover needless tests, but they do cover hospice care for the terminally ill, and respite care, and even experimental treatments if you want to take the risk, but there's a lifetime limit to the amount they'll pay for them. Otherwise, as long as you have regular check-ups, answer the questions truthfully, and pay your premiums, it's an all risks, no limits policy.”
“All risks, as in crazy sports?”
“Well, if you say you like to go shark diving and white-water rafting every year, then it's covered, just expect to higher premiums. If you once said you'd like to do it once in your lifetime, and an accident happens on that once, then it's covered. And so on.”
“Oh, I get it. If you've told them about it, then it's covered, and in your premium. If you haven't, then it's not?”
“Yes. So, for instance, and I admit I laughed at this one from their brochure: a Catholic Nun wouldn't be covered for even an unplanned pregnancy, unless it was as a result of rape. But I am covered for a higher than average number of pregnancies in my lifetime, planned or unplanned. How many children are you thinking of us having?”
“More than two.” Robert answered, with a grin. Then he asked “You're insured through them?”
“One of the nice things about working in GemSmith. It's part of the package, unless you explicitly opt out. Which would be a silly thing to do in my mind.”
“But it's expensive cover?”
“I'm... not sure. I've had the horrible job of passing on the message to patients that their insurer will only cover their treatment up to a certain amount and knowing that there was a one in twenty chance that it will go over. I tend to think that sort of cover is the real expensive cover.”
“But if you do become a teacher, we'd be facing the decision of continuing your insurance with Emerald or finding something else.”
“Yes. And because it is part of the package, I'm not actually sure what it costs.”
“I don't suppose GemSmith runs any schools for Roma kids, does it?”
“I can't imagine that being a profit making activity, but while you read these job opportunities, I'll have a look.”
“Maddie, that was supposed to be a joke.”
“I know, Robbie. But I'll just take a look anyway. I saw something about education once, somewhere.”
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TUESDAY, 26TH DECEMBER, 11AM, RESTORATION
“Now May, the loan-help thing.” Sarah started, “Or how hungry are you?”
“My stomach is starting to notice it's not full.” May said “But I can easily wait an hour or so.”
“John, are you sure you're OK cooking?”
“Of course.” he replied. “Shall I aim for about an hour?”
“Sounds good to me. May?” Sarah replied.
“Yes, please.”
“Right, so, we do want to start slowly, but we also want to avoid showing favouritism, or anything like that. The other issue is that the personnel departments deliberately don't keep any record about people's debts, since it's considered a personal matter. So we have no idea how many people out of the thirty thousand GemSmith workers are in debt.”
“So we ask people to fill in an initial 'I'm interested, please contact me' form?”
“Unless I first say something like 'I know that some people have debts that they really struggle to even repay the interest on. I don't know how many people are suffering genuine debt repayment problems. Please fill in this anonymous survey if you feel you are, so that I can judge how best to respond.'”
“Does that actually gain anyone anything?” John asked. “I mean, if you make it clear on the 'please contact me' form that this is a very initial stage in which you're trying to judge how many people need help, doesn't that cover you?”
“Not really. I mean, if I get a thousand responses, then I won't be able to help very many of them at all, and it turns into a lottery or something.”
“But you do need to prioritise.”
“How about we just tell people the entire process as we imagine it at the moment? And tell them it's a draft, of course.”
May suggested “We could also have them submit an initial form to help us prioritise but which gives them a unique code without demanding a name from them?”
“Then how do we let them know what's happening?”
“Invite them to check back on a 'news' page.” May said pragmatically. “We could even let them know how many people there are who have filled in the form, and say, how many people have a higher debt-to-income ratio than them.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“You make it sound so easy.” Sarah said.
“Isn't it?” May challenged.
“No. I'm not just going to prioritise on the basis of debt-to-income ratio, for instance. I'm also going to prioritise on how the debt was incurred, how long they've had it, how much their spouse or other relatives are contributing, and so on.”
“And what takes priority?”
“Debt incurred for life-saving medical treatment for a loved one, I guess.”
“But what if that's because they didn't take out any insurance, or deliberately chose a basic plan?”
“That's probably where the interview comes in.”
“And shouldn't everyone who works for you have cover for that?”
“It's an issue I mean to address. My workers are covered by default, but the way it's set up at the moment, there's no cover provided for family members. I think that family members should at least be offered a reduced-profit rate.”
“Reduced profit?” May was confused.
“Emerald health insurance is one of my companies, it provides health care to my workers but makes no profit from them. The profit comes from offering the same cover to non-workers. I think there ought to be a rate for close family members which doesn't make quite as much profit as the rates for the general public. The potential issue with this is that, surprise surprise, a disproportionate number of the 'general public' policies are held by close family.”
“And there's no benefit to some kind of family cover?” May asked.
“Not as far as the actuaries are concerned. Marketing would say differently, of course.”
“Well, surely if Emerald undercuts the competitors then you will get more market share, won't you?”
“No, Emerald would go out of business.” Sarah said, simply.
“I don't understand.”
“Emerald doesn't do upper caps on treatment costs. Not except for a few cases. That's how the competitors cut their costs, by limiting payouts and so leaving some patients with heart-breaking choices. Therefore, Emerald will never be able to undercut the competition. Of course, unscrupulous Hospitals don't like Emerald because there's a whole heap of tests our experts say are a total waste of money, and we don't budge on them. For example: If you have an accident on your bike, and the doctor thinks you've got a partial break in your finger. Would you expect to get an X-ray to confirm it?”
“Oooh, I know this one.” May said “We did it in Biology. No, because it's not going to help, and the radiation might do some harm.”
“Exactly. And there's a whole heap of things like that which Emerald will demand real evidence that they're necessary before it will authorise payment. It costs Emerald some time, but it saves people's money. The big insurers just pay up, which costs money but saves time.”
“I thought Emerald was a big insurer.”
“No. They've only got something like three percent of the market, here. There are a couple of big companies which have at twenty percent each, worldwide. But they trade through lots of smaller companies. Partly that's so people don't realise they're the same company, so maybe if they want to switch they end up back with the same company.”
“Oh. Sneaky.”
“Yes. So, back to the problem: if people weren't insured through Emerald, they might have a huge bill they're struggling to pay. If they were, I'd be very surprised, but maybe they tried too many experimental treatments.”
“What about loss of a spouse's income for some reason meaning they can't afford the mortgage?” May asked.
“Then maybe they should move house.” Sarah said. “In the questionnaire or letter then it needs to be clear that this is about giving hope to people who can see no way out of their situation except, say, selling their kids into slavery or bank robbery.”
“Sorry, I know you've said that sort of thing before. But what if they're already in a house the family barely fits in?”
“Then yes, OK, that would make them an acceptable candidate.”
“Pushing the issue a bit further, what if they're in a house too big for them, but they've got a lodger?” May asked.
“OK. OK. I answered too quickly.” Sarah admitted. “But it does point out that as well as asking about how big the debt is and their income, we do need to ask what other sources of income they have, and what expenses. Do they own or rent their home, and if they own it then how much is the mortgage on it. How many family members and lodgers live in the house. If they could live in a smaller house, why don't they?”
“How much they spend on clothes, drink, eating out, entertainment, horse-riding lessons for the children.” John chipped in from the kitchen.
“And somehow you want to do send this out today?” May asked.
“I would. Boxing day is the traditional time for an employer to give a gift to their poor employees, after all. But, I wonder if some of this can come later, in a second stage. I mean, if we've no intention of helping someone, we don't need to know about riding lessons.”
“So, what's critical?” May asked. “Size of debt, interest rate, what they're paying towards it, personal income, other income for the family, fixed expenses. How the debt was incurred.”
“Why do you want to know about the other income?” May asked, curiously.
“Because maybe there's someone who's paying three quarters of their income in servicing the debt, but that's the only income in the family, whereas another person is paying all their income but they're still living quite nicely on their spouse's income.”
“Oh. Got it.”
“So, if I set up a form to ask those things, can you work on a first draft of the covering letter?”
“Of course. So it's going go something like 'Dear employee in the GemSmith family of businesses, are you in such crippling debt that you're thinking of selling your children into slavery or robbing a bank? If so prove it like this...'”
Sarah blanched. “Not quite. I mean, I said those things, but I wasn't actually thinking of you putting them in the letter.”
“Sorry.” May said.
“It's OK. I guess I'll do the introduction, or maybe John would be even better. Tell you what, you write the middle section, about the process, the slow start, two stages of forms, the initial interview with you, and then probably a personal one with me. Then compile a list the information they'd need to send before that stage. It's probably worth pointing out that a lot of what we're going to ask for is going to be on their tax paperwork.”
“And are we going to get them to sign something about it being true to the best of their knowledge, and so on?”
“Of course.”
“And lying would get them fired?”
“I'd need to talk to the lawyers about that. I would certainly report them to the police if they're out to defraud me. If they're hiding something then it would certainly hurt their chances of getting help.”
“OK, so if I put something like 'Please answer completely honestly. Attempted fraud will of course be reported.' would that be good?
“Yes, I think so. Maybe with something like 'There will be opportunity to correct any mistakes, but this may, of course, harm your application.”
“Though not as much as not correcting them.” May added.
“Exactly. In the description of what I'm planning, make sure that you say that the maximum I'm considering is paying their interest for a ten year period, so that they can pay off a large chunk of the capital, but that the actual amount depends on how many apply, how long they've had the debt, how significant the burden is, and the precise circumstances of how the debt was incurred.”
“And your payments will only continue as long as they are also continuing to make payments?”
“Significant repayments, yes.”
“Who defines significant?”
“Determined at the interview and written into the contract. Roughly speaking I'm thinking it'll be slightly less than their present repayments, so they can have a week camping or in Blackwood cabins, or something, assuming they've not had a holiday in years. But, depending on how much they've been tightening the belt, I might be more or less generous.”
“You mean, even if you think they've not been paying enough you might still help them?”
“Yes. I mean, it might be they've taken the decision that there's no point in trying to do more than pay the interest at the moment, and if they can do that without tightening their belts too much, then I'll say well, if you really want to escape that debt then you're going to need to put more effort in. I'll listen to their arguments, of course, but I expect I'll try to work out what their debt would have been if they'd been making repayments on the capital and base any help I give on that number.”
“So if they've decided that little Patricia must have her pony lessons...”
“Then I'll probably decide the debt isn't actually crippling them, unless they've made some significant life-style changes. And no, only drinking one case of champagne a month instead of two doesn't count for much in my book.”
“And if they get all high and mighty and say who are you to dictate to them how they should have scrimped and saved?”
“They they clearly don't want my help. The people I most want to help are desperate people who have pared back their lifestyle so there's nothing left to cut back on except basic food. I'm presuming that I'll need to pay their transport.”
“You think there are people that desperate?”
“I don't know. I know that I'm already committed to helping one man for whom something like ninety percent of his entire salary as high level lawyer was going to pay for interest on a loan for his wife's life-saving treatment. Before she got back to work after her illness they were very much working out which brand of pasta got them more calories for the money and how many meals they could make a tin of fish last, and dreading the time when he'd have to spend money on an expensive suit so he could keep up the appearance of a high power lawyer.”
“Ouch.”
“Yes. The other thing is that this was a private matter for him and he only told me about it because I asked him who had got sick, and then heard him struggling with the decision to lie after he'd just been told not to break trust with me. I therefore think we should state that although I'm limiting the offer to GemSmith employees (and their spouses) I am making the offer as an individual, and in no way will I communicate what they tell me with their colleagues or supervisors.”
“OK. I'll put that in.”
“And I'll start work on the form, “Sarah said.
“Out of interest, how will you stop someone outside GemSmith accessing the form? I mean, if someone passes on your email to a friend....”
“Hmm. Good question. I don't think I can, until it gets to the second stage.”
“Oh well. You can't make it only accessible from within a corporate network or something like that?”
“Not the form, I want people able to fill it in from their own homes... I could make the letter only accessible from there, of course, but then that'd make it hard to discuss with their spouse. No. I think I'll just tell my personal assistant that some weeding might be necessary later on.”
“Very well, Maam. I'll get some gardening gloves.”
----------------------------------------
TUESDAY, 26TH DECEMBER, 10.15AM, ANCHORAGE TIME.
“Hello, Madeline. Your husband is ready?”
“Yes. He has a question about the mechanic's assistant-cum-driver position I couldn't answer.”
“I'm shocked, Madeline, I thought you knew everything.”
“I'll hand him over.”
“Hello, it was Robert, wasn't it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I'm Edward Winters, I understand you have a query about one of the positions we're advertising?”
“Yes, sir, the description I have been looking at seems rather short on detains about what sort of mechanic I'd be assisting. Are we talking heavy goods vehicles, steam engines, cars, or even computers?”
“Mainly it's ambulances, actually. We do have a number of company cars but mostly the issue is ensuring that the ambulances are functioning when we need them.”
“That's what Maddie thought, sir, and it makes me nervous. I believe that ambulances need a lot of specialist knowledge, what with the extra equipment. Would I be responsible for assisting with that equipment, or merely the standard electro-mechanical side of things: metalwork, motors, fuel-cells, engine management and the like?”
“You'd be working on the electro-mechanicals. Have you ever worked on turbo-generators?”
“I have, in trucks. Not much more than inspecting the filters, blades and bearings though. Your ambulances have turbo-generators as well as the fuel-cells?”
“Yes. And more than inspecting the filters, blades and bearings would be contracted out to a specialist. But those are critical tasks, of course.”
“Absolutely. You don't want a turbine to shatter on you.”
“That's about as rare as a flying pig with proper maintenance.”
“I know, but I've seen the results of botched maintenance. Not mine, you understand, I just had the job of picking the debris out of the casing.”
“So, you're up for the job? You've got references, I presume?”
“Would you prefer customers or my old boss? That'll be my big brother, by the way.”
“And customers?”
Robert named some of the haulage companies that used his brother's company.
“I'm afraid I'm not very familiar with any of them.”
“Those are long distance haulage firms, otherwise, there's a few small businesses around home.”
“Where is that, by the way?”
Robert told him.
“Now I understand why Madeline said a few weeks wouldn't make any difference for your family. You can drive, I presume?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Madeline said that you'd ended up jobless and out of cash. Can you explain to me why how that happened, and why that doesn't make you an unsuitable candidate for this job?”
“Well, the fundamental reason I lost my job out there is that I was teaching in a very Moslem country and I told someone about Jesus. It was a risk, but I thought it was worth it. I still do. What I didn't realise was that to get a job there you absolutely have to have contacts, friends in high places. And what I had was a major enemy in a high place. Since I didn't know that, I thought I ought to be employable in something, and I didn't have enough to get home by the time I'd worked out that I didn't even have the contacts to get a job as a street-sweeper. I had been keeping track of how much money I had compared to the ticket I'd bought on the way out, but when I looked, the ticket home seemed like it cost twice what I paid to get there, and every time I checked, it seemed like the ticket price went up. I do admit that I hadn't thought of just looking for what left there as cheaply as possible and doing the route planning myself.”
“So... you got stuck there because of naïvety and cultural ignorance.”
“Yes sir. ”
“And it was nothing to do with your competence or anything like that. But on the other hand, you've been away from your trade for what, a couple of years? That's a long time to forget stuff.”
“Eighteen months. But I don't think I'm at all likely to forget how to fix a vehicle. That's in my blood. I was rebuilding skidoo engines when I was twelve.”
“Well, Madeline can take up your references, but from a relative they're not that informative, and with the eighteen month gap the customer references are a bit suspect too. But that's OK, because it seems to me you're a bit over-experienced for the sort of menial work we want. But, since you've got friends in all the right places around here, and you're only looking for a short-term job, I can't count that against you, now, can I? So, if you manage to convince our chief mechanic you know your stuff, you've got the job. Ha, for all I know you already know him, your community being what it is.”
“He's Rom? What's his name, sir?”
“Mickey Wales.”
“Name I haven't heard in a while, sir. My Dad knew him, he knows his stuff.”
“I know he does. So, I'll give Mickey a call to say that he's to give you a test tomorrow morning. Get Madeline to show you to the workshop, it's a nightmare getting to it with the construction work. If Mickey thinks you'll do then we'll sign the paperwork at lunchtime. Wages as per the job offer.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“And you'd be interested in one of the worker's flats?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How are you at house maintenance? Things like blocked drains, broken windows, creaking doors, replacing locks, clearing snow, and the like?”
“No problem.”
“Right, then I can offer you two options. One is that we charge the rent against your or Maddie's wages. The flats aren't great, I warn you, but then the amount we charge is reflected in that. The other option is that you fill another vacancy I've got for part time on-site custodian. You'd be on-call between six P.M. and midnight for any minor repair jobs you get asked to by other residents, and any time of night for emergencies. The last guy said he was called out for about two hours a week, on average, and once in the six month period for an emergency, but it varies. He gave it up because it ruined too many dates, and his girlfriend started issuing ultimatums. Anyway, if you want to take that on, then you'd get the flat for free, and you'd be paid for time you spend clearing the snow, since that's seasonal. I suggest you talk to Madeline about it. It's an antisocial job, and you're committing yourself to stay within about half an hour from the flat every evening.”
“Would I get Sundays off?”
“Oh, yes, you get one day a week off, and five days annual leave accrue every 3 months.”
“Thank you sir, we'll discuss it.”
“Can you let me know fairly soon? I need to report this by the end of the day.”
“Of course, sir.”
“Bye' then.”
“Bye.”
Robert pulled Maddie towards him and kissed her.
“That well, then?”
“I love you, Maddie Trent.”
“I love you too. What did he say?”
“One, assuming an old friend of my dad says I'm all right, then I've got the mechanic job. And if we decide we're not going out evenings then we can have the flat for free.”
“Not going out evenings?”
“We can either pay for the flat out of our wages, or he offered me the part-time custodian job if I want it.”
“It's a horrible job, you know.”
“Fixing creaking doors and blocked sinks a couple of hours a week?”
“Mostly unblocking toilets. According to the last guy, some of the nurses had bad habits about flushing things that shouldn't be flushed. And then the plumbing backs up.”
“Oh. He didn't say that.”
“He probably doesn't know I know. The last guy's girlfriend came by the office to have a good moan while he was having his resignation interview. 'You'd need to be really desperate for a flat for it to be worth that,' is what she said.”
“Your boss said she'd been issuing ultimatums about wrecked dates.”
“That's a nice way of saying it. I expect I wouldn't be interested in a date with anyone who'd just come from just having his arm up to his shoulder down a sewer pipe.”
“That's a repulsive thought.”
“Yes.”
“So what happens when there's a blockage now?”
“Ah well, that's the interesting thing. It seems that either the perpetrator was deliberately doing it to ruin his life, or they left the flats at about the same time he did. It's one of life's little mysteries.”
“So, you think that if I take the job, then maybe just maybe it'll be fine, but...”
“It's risky. Anyway, with you having the mechanic job... can we look at the numbers, Robert?”
“Of course.”
“It's not very romantic, I'm afraid.”
“Oh, I don't know. We're talking about our life together, that's nice. Your boss wants the answer by the end of today, by the way.”
“Let's try and answer by lunchtime. I've got plans for this afternoon.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, several. And there's no cleaning involved.”
“Don't I have a say?” Robert asked.
“Of course, my husband, but I think you'll like my ideas.”
“Then let's look at those numbers.”
----------------------------------------
TUESDAY, 26TH DECEMBER, 2.30PM, RESTORATION
“Sarah, May, why don't you leave it for now?” John asked, providing a cup of tea. “I think it sounds pretty good, but give it a rest and look at it again just before you send it out?”
“Oh, but...” Sarah stifled that rebellious thought. “All right, John. You're probably right. We'll let it rest for a bit.”
“So, now you're going to tell me all about the problem children?” May asked.
“Yes. So, randomly picking one of them.... Sapphire custom jewelery.”
“It's not a name I recognise.”
“It's a group of smallish shops, specialising in custom, made-to-order pieces. Customer satisfaction is high, the workshops where things are made seem to be a happy place, but staff turn-over at the sales counters is pretty high. The staff get training, they claim in their reports that everything is fine, but hardly anyone stays more than seven months, so there's obviously something wrong somewhere.”
“The wages are OK?”
“I think so. I mean, it's not like we're the first person to look at this. No one has asked for a wage rise, no one has complained about any personnel issues, no one has said anything negative at all. They just don't stay.”
“So either there's a culture of fear where they're afraid of speaking out, or there's something unpleasant about the customers, they're getting offered more to go somewhere else, or they decide it's not for them.”
“Maybe a recruitment problem, you mean?”
“Just an idea.”
“Possibly a good one.”
“And there have been questionnaires done about why people are leaving?”
“Yes. It's standard practice — the manager accepting the resignation has to ask why. The normal response is something like 'I don't think this job is for me after all.' or something like that.”
“But it's always the manager who does that exit interview?”
“Yes.”
“So if there's a problem with the manager, then that might be a factor?”
“Yes. There was apparently a problem with one manager, but they were replaced and the staff are still leaving. Of all ages and both sexes.”
“And there's nothing special that happens after seven months?”
“Not that I'm aware of.”
“I'm just thinking, if there was some kind of bonus they were hoping to get after six months, and they found out they weren't going to get it, or it wasn't what they thought it would be....”
“Then they ought to be complaining, surely?”
“You'd have thought so.” May said.
“Unless the manager they're conducting the interview with has just explained to them why they're not eligible for it.” John said.
“Oooh, now that's possible.” Sarah said.
“Have any of the previous interventions included an extra survey of why people are leaving?” May asked.
“Yes. Here's the summary of responses. They didn't conclude anything really.”
“Yes they do. Salary is 'above average', but 'disappointment' scores highly, and so does 'had a better offer'.” May pointed out.
“Yes. But both of those are only to be expected, aren't they?” Sarah said.
“But no one followed it up with a 'what were you disappointed about?' question?” John asked.
“Not that I can see here. There doesn't seem to have been a 'extra information' box either.” Sarah said.
“So, someone needs to do a follow up questionnaire.” John concluded.
“And find out exactly what the recruitment firm are saying.” May said.
“Good thought.” Sarah said.
“So would you like me to do some calling people?” May asked, “Or are you going to trust someone else to do a good enough job?”
“Oooh, listen to the arrogance of youth!” John said, with a smile. “I suggest you give May the job, Sarah.”
“OK, May, go for it. What's your strategy?”
“Urm, I call people up and ask them open ended questions?”
“And what's in it for them?” John asked. “I mean, I just hate answering questions like that.”
“I don't know. Urm, can I promise them some sort of thank-you for their valuable time?”
“Yes.” Sarah decided “If we can find out why people are leaving it might well save quite a lot of money.”
“I've got another idea.” May said.
“Yes?”
“I call people who are still working for you. See if we can keep them, you know?”
“Ooh, now that I like. Yes. Go for it. It's easier, actually, since they're current staff.”
“So, I say 'Hello, I'm May, working as P.A. to the owner of GemSmith, do have any idea about why so many Sapphire sales staff leave after six or seven months? And would they like a little boxing day present in exchange for telling me why.'”
“And they ask how much.” John said, looking at Sarah.
“You're asking them for work stuff on what sensible people are enjoying as a public holiday. I'll credit them an hour's overtime for answering, and another one or two if you tell me they answered well.”
“And how many people are in this category?”
“Hmm... ten shops, three sales staff per shop. So thirty people total.” Sarah pulled up the staff records. “The sorted list by seniority is here. Start at the top and see how many of the top fifteen you can get through in about an hour. But don't rush people. I'd rather four good answers than fifteen rushed ones.”
“OK, May Santa-claus is on the case, trying to give away your money.”
“Remember, professional manner.” Sarah warned.
“Yes, Mrs Williams.”
“Much better. OK if I evesdrop for a bit?”
“Of course.” May agreed.
“Then I want to talk to John for a bit. We'll be in the kitchen.”
“OK. And I should use your house phone?”
“Yes. Just make sure you set it to withhold the number.”
“Of course.”
May rang the first number. In her best telephone voice she said, “Hello? Am I speaking to Jonathan Ellington?”
“Yes. I hope you're not trying to sell me something. This is an unlisted number...”
“No, Mr Ellington. I'm P.A. to the ultimate owner of Sapphire. I've been authorised to credit you with an hour's overtime pay if you could answer a few quick questions for me.”
“Well, that's an unusual sales pitch.”
“I'm sitting in her flat at the moment. I assure you this is no sales pitch.”
“You're trying to tell me that the owner of the company that owns the company I work for lives in a flat?”
“Yes. The inheritance was locked in a trust fund until about a week ago.”
“Oh, so she's out looking for a mansion now, is she?”
“I very much doubt it. Would you be willing to answer a few questions, sir?”
“Yes, OK, go ahead.”
“My employer has noticed that turn-over among stafft at Sapphire is ridiculously high. Would you be able to shed any light on why sales staff rarely stay longer than seven months?”
“You mean that I'm a rarity?”
“You are sir. You're the longest serving sales staff member in a long time.”
“That's crazy! I've only been working there eight months!”
“Yes, sir. Most of the people leaving seem disappointed, but about what either they're not saying or someone is hiding it from GemSmith staff.”
“Well, it was a bit disappointing, I admit, but the pay's good.”
“What was disappointing, sir?”
“The bonus.”
“I'm afraid I don't know what you're referring to, sir.”
“We're on a reasonable wage. I've seen better, but the benefits are good. Very good, and I know what I'm talking about. So, there's this mention in the recruitment literature of a small bonus for completing every sale, I mean, I didn't expect it to be much, but I'd done pretty well, I thought. We're a busy store, and for some reason I'm selling more than the others. So you get to dreaming, you know. You keep count, and think, well, almost five hundred pieces sold, you'd think well, the bonus won't be a thousand, but maybe it'll be at least a hundred, that'd be nice, get something for my wife. And then the bonus letter comes and I admit I almost threw in the towel there and then.”
“It sounds like it was insultingly small, sir.”
“It was. I didn't get a thousand. I didn't get a hundred, I got just less than ten! Yeah, that's disappointing, all right. But like I say, the wage is OK and the benefits are very good.”
Sarah took the handset from May's unresisting fingers. “Mr Ellington, Sarah Williams here. GemSmith owner. I've just been checking the board decision on bonuses. There has obviously been a serious mistake.”
“I'm glad you think so, too, Maam.”
“The board decision is supposed to reward staff, and also managers. Each six months of a staff-member's employment the number of pieces sold within a store should earns the manager a little bonus of the amount that you received. Based on the board decision, the bonus you got should have been more like two hundred.”
“That would have been very welcome, Maam.”
“The exact formula was deemed a board secret, I'm not quite sure why. Clearly if no one knew how much it ought to be then there was no way even your manger could complain. I don't suppose you know how much they got as a bonus.”
“He said he got the same as I did, and that he agreed, it wasn't very much, and he wished they'd scrap it since it was so disappointing for people.”
“I bet. Unfortunately, he's not passed on that wish to anyone in GemSmith over the past four years. Mr Ellington, I'm about to credit you as having worked five hours overtime. You've certainly just saved me at least that much time. The next thing I'll do is ruin the board members' day to find out who failed to check that their decision was correctly implemented, and make sure that they ensure that you get the bonus you should have received. If you haven't had a revised bonus letter within the week, then please ask your manager for contact details for GemSmith personnel, and let them know that the issue is still not resolved.”
“Thank you, Maam.”
“Please reassure the other sales staff at your store that the bonuses should be fixed soon. Managers get a sum for every employee who stays six months, by the way, so don't feel too sorry for your manager.”
“Maam, I do know some previous staff, and they'd warned me to expect a disappointment. Will they receive a corrected bonus, too?”
“I'll need to discuss that with some advisors, but I expect so. I'm not sure how far back we can do that. Purely from practical terms that people move, and so on. But, quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if are red-faced board members or senior managers giving a press conference soon.”
“You would push it so far, Maam?”
“Someone failed to do their job, Mr Ellington, and has seriously undermined morale in the company's sales-force. At the very least I would expect a public apology be made to all those affected. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to upset some board members.”
“Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, maam.”
“You're welcome.” Sarah put down the handset. “Right. Now I mark this as as having done overtime. She clicked on the console a few times. Oh, bother. It won't let me.”
“What do you do now? Get someone else to do it?”
“No. I go to my page... here we are! Consultant help from staff member, there's Mr Ellington. Hmm who do we charge? Something in Sapphire...”
“Board expenses?” May suggested.
“No, that's got all sorts of implications. OK, well I'll just charge it to miscellaneous, and add a note. 'Solved mystery of sales-staff turn-over.'”
“Now you're going to ruin the board's day?”
“Not quite. I'm going to ask you write down your conversation, urm.. here.”
“This says it's minutes of owners meeting.”
“Yes. I know. We've just had a meeting between you, me, and Mr Ellington. Get it down and minuted and official, please. I'll get some advice.”
----------------------------------------
11.55AM, ANCHORAGE
“Hello, Mr Winters? Robert Trent here.”
“Hello, do you have a decision for me?”
“Yes, I'm afraid I need to decline the custodian job. Madeline doesn't want me coming to bed smelling of excrement.”
“Ah. You're referring to the unfortunate case of the previous maintenance man. Could you put me on loudspeaker?”
“Of course.” Robert said.
“Madeline, you've heard what happened in more detail than I thought.”
“I have. I got an earful from his girlfriend while he was resigning.”
“You understand there were... personal issues involved?”
“I notice that the blockages stopped when he did.” Madeline said.
“Yes. Well, what you might not know, I guess you don't, is the little scandal that happened just before you joined us. He had been almost engaged to one of the nurses, until she found him urm, entwined with the woman you know as his girlfriend.”
“Ah. No I didn't know that.” Maddie admitted.
“So, there was quite a lot of sympathy for the nurse as the wounded party, and quite a lot of ill-feeling towards both of them. I don't know, and quite frankly I'm not going to investigate, but I suspect that when it was discovered that flushing sanitary products caused the result it did then her supporters joined in the revenge.”
“So, in your view it isn't likely to reoccur?”
“I don't see why it should. And if it does then I'll have to take disciplinary action against whoever's responsible; they shouldn't be flushing such items. With that reassurance, would you like the job?”
Robert looked at Madeline. With the expenses of renting and furnishing the flat, buying replacement clothes for Robert, and food for them both, and of course taxes, the double income would have let them make some savings, but certainly not double the amount Maddie had been able to put aside herself living at home. Plus, Robert wanted to be able to help his mother buy things she'd put off purchasing while she'd been supporting him. She nodded. It was OK with her. “Yes, Mr Winters, thank you, I'll take the job.”
“Excellent! I'll let head-office know. By the way, I've talked to Mickey Wales, and Mickey's talked to your brother. Mickey says that even if you have forgotten everything you ever knew, as long as you've not forgotten how to talk too, then you ought to be able to pick things up again. So, come by the office first thing and we'll get you signed up with both contracts.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“It does occur to me that if all goes well, perhaps you'd be able to continue in that custodian role while you're studying. Just a thought for you to consider. I believe that Mrs Williams would approve. Bye.” He closed the connection before they could respond.
Robert looked at his wife — one of his favourite occupations — and asked “Had that thought occurred to you?”
“No.”
“Nor to me. I think I like your company.”
“It rather looks like he looks after people.”
“As long as they're not two-timing scum.”
“Yes. I did notice a slight difference between 'I'm not interested in who' in one case and 'I'll have to discipline whoever's responsible' in the other. He shouldn't do that, let his personal feelings affect discipline.”
“You're probably right. But there is a certain element of justice to it.”
“It might get him in trouble, so let's not tell.”
“Of course not. One thing that's confused me though. How does everyone know it was the nurses?”
“Oh that's easy. They're on the top floor. Oh... I should have thought. Does that worry you?”
“Being technically underneath them? I'm technically underneath a woman every time a plane goes over, or I go under an underpass. It's fine.”
“My dad's fine with it too, as long as there's a good solid floor. But I know my granddad wasn't.”
“You were going to look up whether friend Sarah owns any schools.”
“Yes. I did. No schools that I could see. But... there is an educational foundation that GemSmith employees are encouraged to support. I don't know if it's actually part of GemSmith or not.”
“And if it is, is it relevant to us?”
“It might be. I'm not entirely sure. The blurb I found was rather vague.”
“Oh well. We've got a long time to wait before it's relevant to us.”
“Yes. Much more relevant is lunch.”
“And are you going to tell me about your plans for after lunch?”
“Yes.” and she whispered in his ear.
“How urgent is lunch?” he asked.
“Not very.” she replied with a smile. So, by mutual accord, they postponed lunch.
----------------------------------------
TUESDAY, 26TH DECEMBER, 3.30PM, RESTORATION
“Hello Colin, thank you so much for returning my call. I need some advice.” Sarah said.
“Do I presume this is GemSmith related?”
“It is. I'm really sorry for ringing out of hours on a public holiday. I presume you've got a suitable rate for that.”
“Urm, yes, I have.” Colin admitted.
“Good. I've just found out the reason that Sapphire sales staff are all giving up on the company. The board made a decision four years ago, when there was another problem, to reward staff who stayed on with a bonus every six-months, based on their sales. Managers were to get a much smaller bonus, every time a staff member got one. It looks like whoever programmed that bonus did too much copy and past and at least one sales staff member got what I think should have been the manager's bonus. It was just about big enough to buy him and his wife a cup of coffee. And that wasn't at a premium store either.”
“Ouch.”
“Yes. So my question: the board decision was poorly implemented. The formula for calculating the bonus was, by board vote, deemed a board secret, therefore the store managers could sympathise but couldn't know the maths was wrong. First, who gets the blame? Is it the board for not checking up on things, whatever senior manager didn't obey the board decision, or who?”
“If the formula was a secret, then it's either the CEO or the board. Ultimately I'd blame the board. They introduced the policy and didn't seek any feedback at all, by the looks of it.”
“I agree. Second, since the problem with under-performance of the company originated in the board's failure to check their policy was working and that the staff were treated with due respect, what options do I have?”
“Well, you always have the right to instruct GemSmith to sack the lot of them. I think you can certainly penalise them heavily. As you say, they've failed to implement a core GemSmith value. You would have a case for saying that they've failed to do that since they failed to check that decision was implemented, and therefore forfeit a fairly large chunk of their last four year's bonuses. I'll need more data than that to make a final recommendation.”
“OK. Last barrage of questions. Staff who have left because they were so insulted and or disappointed by the minuscule bonus. Do they get the bonus they should have got? If I find someone who's just left, do they get an apologetic offer to have their resignation torn up? If someone has just left but the job has been filled, what then?”
“Over-staffing would cause a problem?”
“I'm not aware of any stores where there are too many customers for the staff to cope, so I presume it'd mean a reduction in sales for the other workers.”
“Any plans to open a new store?”
“If there are, then I'd be nervous about them, on the one hand, the post-impact economic climate doesn't look great, and on the other, I believe the factory would need to expand if there is extra custom. Ten stores seems to be the right number at the moment.”
“If there's no spare capacity at the factory, then I agree, you shouldn't take on extra capital and outgoings without a base. So, if the job has gone, then one option would be to notify the ex-staff before any public advertisement of the job. That would need employment tribunal approval. Without that approval, your only option would be simply notify them of the opening at the same time as the public advertisement. And you'd need to let them know that you can't discriminate in their favour. So, I think I'd recommend simply an apology from the board, payment of all the bonuses, and also payment of some kind of apology figure. The bonus isn't actually in anyone's contract, I presume?”
“No, but it was apparently mentioned by recruitment as 'a small bonus'.”
“Well, it certainly was small.”
“I'm thinking of double the bonus amount, coming from the board members' personal bonuses. Is that reasonable?”
“How many people are you talking about?”
“There are ten stores, three sales people per store, none has lasted more than about seven months since the insult scheme started.”
“Now, Sarah, don't go calling it an insult scheme, that's prejudicial. There might be court cases about this, you realise.”
“Yes. If there are, then my attitude is the board members can take the fall.”
“But the investigations of the GemSmith personnel department were clearly also insufficient to root out the cause.”
“I agree that there could have been a more thorough investigation, but the report of an early one I saw directed the board's attention to the high levels of disappointment, and strongly suggested they seek out the cause of that. I learned about this from one phone call. So, again, in my book, the board failed. GemSmith investigators could have checked that the board had followed up the line of inquiry but really, if that were necessary, why are we paying the board at all?”
“Very well. So, you're talking a little less than sixty staff leaving each year, on average?”
“Yes.”
“I think your idea has a lot of merit. This would be instead of any punitive factor?”
“I was actually thinking of it as a additional measure. This is the restoration of what they owe the staff they've let down. Failure to implement core values is another issue.”
“Well, the bonus does contain a claw-back clause. I wonder if it can be made to stick in this case.”
“Well, Colin, that's your department. But... to be more precise, I was thinking that the punitive bit would be past bonuses, and the restoration out of this year's. Does that work?”
“I'm pretty sure it does, yes.”
“Great. One more question. Am I within my rights to demand a public apology to the two hundred and forty or so ex-staff they've let down? Or should I accept them making individual apologies?”
“Oh, I think an immediate public apology on the company site would be in order. Perhaps with an interview with GemSmith's spokesman, or even better, yourself talking about them failing in their duties and that you're consulting with your lawyers to see what proportionate and appropriate measures can be taken.”
“I don't do interviews, Colin.”
“I think that policy might need to change, Sarah. You can of course say that you are so disappointed in their performance that you're making an exception in this case.”
“You're not suggesting I address a mob of reporters, are you? Surely they wouldn't be interested?”
“I suppose it could just be a few.”
“Not just one?”
“You've got someone in mind?”
“Well, there's one. He's become a friend since he started dating a friend and stopped begging me for an interview every few months.”
“Then he'd know how unique an opportunity this is, I suppose. He's with a significant media outlet?”
“N.W.N.”
“Oh, they get all the good chances, don't they? You're going to be accused of playing favourites, you know, if there's only one channel involved.”
“Hmm. Maybe I'll think of a couple more persistent reporters then. But the main burden is going to be on GemSmith's spokesman. Who is that at the moment?”
“Ambrose Jackson is filling the role, among his other duties.”
“O.K. I'll fill him in. Thank you.”
“You could leave this all in GemSmith's hands, you realise.”
“I could. And mostly I will. Bye!”
“It's been a pleasure talking to you, Maam.”
“At the amount I hope you're charging GemSmith, it ought to be!”
“I meant it genuinely, Maam.” he said, hurt.
“Please call me Sarah, Colin. I'm sorry, it didn't come out well. What I wanted to indicate in a friendly way was that I'm glad you enjoyed the conversation, and I hope you and your wife will enjoy spending the extra Christmas bonus that this conversation represents.”
“Thank you, Sarah.” he said, checking the timer as she said goodbye and disconnected. Yes. It was going to turn into quite a bonus.
----------------------------------------
TUESDAY, 26TH DECEMBER, 4.10PM, RESTORATION
“Hello, is that Mr George Huntingdon, chairman of the board of Sapphire?” May asked.
“Yes, speaking. Is this work-related? Really, I can't hold a work conversation on a public holiday. And how did you get this number?”
“Mr Huntingdon, I got this number from your personnel file. I'm P.A. to the owner of GemSmith. Would you really like me to tell Mrs Williams you're unable to talk to her?”
“I don't know what you're talking about. GemSmith is held in trust.”
“Sir, you really should read company bulletins. Do you enjoy your job?”
“What sort of question is that?” he asked, insulted.
“One you should be asking yourself. Would you like me to tell Mrs Sarah Williams, (who was the sole beneficiary of the recently dissolved trust which included one hundred percent of shares in GemSmith) that you refuse to speak to her on urgent company business, because it is a public holiday?”
“Er... urm, no, please don't tell her that.”
“Very well, then in that case, please hold the line, as she's still talking to someone else.”
[Well done, May!] Sarah sent, approvingly.
“So,” Sarah finished, “If you could pass that on to personnel? There's obviously been some major failings. Colin Hilton is aware and will be awaiting more documentation tomorrow.”
“Yes of course, Sarah.” Ambrose said, “And I'll work on a suitable statement. You really want me to say something about seeking legal advice?”
“Absolutely. In my book they've failed to uphold a core value, so I'm not excluding any options at the moment.”
“Very well. You realise that might prompt resignations.”
“Yes. Can you tell personnel that I'd like to them to investigate if and why they should refuse any, just in case.”
“Of course.” Ambrose made another note. “You're not going to take that decision yourself then?”
“I don't think so. Frank told me I probably needed to look into the 'problem children' as he called them. Personnel were more than happy, since they hadn't got very far. I looked and found this out, and I think urgent action is needed before there are any more people leaving sales, but I'm not trying to do personnel out of their jobs.”
“Well done.”
“Thank you. I hope I've learned that lesson.”
“So why do you think that you need to intervene this much?”
“Because it seems to me that the board have failed to listen to strong advice from personnel already. Otherwise they'd have found out what I found out.”
“Ah. OK. In that case, there aren't many options, are there?”
“I'm not going to present them with any, just lay down the law about some immediate actions.”
“And if they refuse to comply?”
“Then I'll let personnel know, with my view on the matter.”