The Task Force made minimal changes and failed. The Board hired Time Management Consultants who hand picked employees they wanted on their team. I was one of them. The manager hired by David in Kansas City, Kansas was the other.
David had an opportunity to "hand select" his employees who he felt could assist the consultants. He chose Larry, but the consultants had heard about Larry and declined the offer. They chose me instead. David was furious. He told them that I didn't know much about operations as I was new to the company. That was just what they were looking for.
In our first meeting, the plan of operation was discussed. We were informed we would have conversations about many of our co-workers and nothing was to leave the room. After that first meeting, David called me into his office. He had told me that he had recommended me for the committee and I was to keep him informed of every thing that was being discussed behind those closed doors.
I knew the story. I was told by the female consultant that David picked Larry and the consultants chose me. I was livid that he would lie to me and put me in a position to betray the trust of the consultants. I suggested that he speak with the person heading up the consultants if he wanted any inside information as we had to all signed agreements that every thing discussed was confidential. He reminded me that he had just promoted me and I "owed him." I was kind, but firm, "I deserved that promotion and you did not do right by me. I am sorry, but I refuse to report to you on any thing discussed."
The meetings took place over months. Major changes took place over time. But after we completed a time study and task evaluation, we prepared for our first round of lay offs. No one was expecting it. It was based on performance only.
David was called into personnel and informed of the layoffs. Eight people would be laid off. Each would be given a severance package. If they failed to sign a specific form, the severance package would be withheld. Mollie Ann was one of these employees. I had been with the company for two years and in those twenty four months, she worked maybe five to six months, here and there. She was a high paid employee. She earned the same as me. They did not reduce her pay when they demoted her.
David had it all arranged. He had eight employees to lay off. He would sit in the library and call each one in individually. He had eight managers through out the company lined up outside the door. As each employee came out, the next manager in line would escort the employee to their desk. They had fifteen minutes to pack up their desk and we were to escort them out of the building.
People who work in offices, know the flow of work and the habits of other staff. Never would you see eight managers standing in perfect formation outside of the library on any given day. Each employee walked in, ten minutes later, each walked out, some brave, some not.
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| My Staff |
She came out in tears. I am sure David was not pleasant given their history. Her desk was located in the farthest corner of the office. We were instructed where to walk them, through the office. No one knew what was going on and people were starting to whisper. I took her and instead of walking her through the office, I took her out of the office and in the back door, which was next to her desk. I wanted her to save face. She'd been humiliated enough with David's demotion of her and now this. She was beside herself. They were instructed what they could take and not take.
As insurance claims people, we collect a lot of valuable tools over the years to handle claims. She had a lot. I told her to pack them up, but she said she was told to not take company property. I reminded her that the resource material was hers, it was not company owned and she'd need it in her next job. We packed her up. I didn't care whether she took fifteen minutes or fifty. She was not focused and she was having a hard time coming to grips with her reality.
She was all packed and in a rare moment for Mollie, she hugged me and thanked me for being so kind. For walking her outside of the eyes and ears of the inner office and for allowing her to not be rushed. We walked to her car and I wished her the best of luck. She had a rough road ahead of her trying to find a job in a market that was downsizing.
I returned to the office and David assured everyone that no more staff reductions were going to take place. Every one was safe and needed to get back to work. He didn't know that round two was just around the corner.
He was on a business trip in California when the next round of staff reductions took place. This one was a bit more dramatic. The Marion County Sherriff Department arrived at 8:30 one morning and removed seven of eight officers of the company. Minutes. In minutes, these men who ran this company were history. David was the only one who had not been removed with the exception of our recently placed President.
He heard the news from one of the officers who had been removed from the office. He came back to work the following Monday, proud as a peacock, flaunting his feathers for all to see, he made it, they didn't walk him out of the office, he was a survivor. He spent days telling everyone how wonderful he was because he had been spared.
He had no idea, he was on a different list, early retirement. I wanted to warn Phyl that she was going to be let go so that she could prepare herself, but I had been out of the office in Kansas performing an audit. When I returned, it was obvious she had lost her loyalty for me. She was siding with the enemy. Larry had been removed with the first round of employees. She felt that the other two managers that had been there for years, Dewey and David would still be standing, so she sided with them.
She must have thought that I was on my way out the door and she was protecting herself in the event she was going to report to David directly. I realized that loyalty goes so far and if someone feels threatened, they will drop you like a hot potato.
The day arrived, one final cut, six people in our department were offered early retirement. If they did not accept it, they would be terminated. Phyl, David and Dewey were in that group. The staff had been finely trimmed to the bare bones.
The "retirees" had thirty days before their final day of employment. David's feathers had been plucked, he no longer boasted about how great he was. Phyl was excited. She had been looking for a job and had spoken to a company in the Carolina's on the phone several times. She would be flying out there the first week she was retired to interview face to face. She was confident she had the job in the palm of her hands.
I knew she wouldn't get the job. She was very personable on the phone and very knowledgeable, but her appearance and habit of releasing unwanted gases in her system, could not be hidden if she met this potential employer in person.
On her last day, I took her aside. She was angry that she had been placed in this position, although it looked hopeful to her that she'd be employed within the month. I explained to her that this was a blessing in disguise. As discreetly as possible, I told her that she would find greater opportunities outside of Lumbermens, significantly better pay. She was not to sell her self short. I told her what adjusters in her position were making on the outside, well over $15,000 more than what she was. She was speechless. She had no idea.
The company held a retirement party for all the employees who were leaving. Phyl had five children and they all lived locally. Not one showed up for her retirement party. Her church had paid to have her hair done and bought her a new dress and shoes. She looked absolutely beautiful that night at the party.
She flew to the Carolina's the next week. I told her that she should wear that dress for her interview. She was flying out and was so excited. Unfortunately, my prediction was true, she stepped off the plane and they put her right back on it, she was not what they were looking for.
Mollie found employment with Farm Bureau. She died two years later of brain cancer. She was forty two years old. David started a consulting business from home, assisting reinsurance companies with large catastrophic claims and litigation management.
The manager in Kansas who had sat on this committee with me had been promoted to David's position, but not as Vice President, just as Claims Director. The company was not going to be top heavy with senior management again.
I promoted my cube buddy from my days at Maryland Casualty to head up the Kansas City office as manager. He and his family were excited to move and he was grateful for my recommendation. I had no desire to move to Kansas, it had been offered to me, but Chappy was one with a career. I had a job. Killer was right, you can't have two careers in a marriage. Not the one I was in. I was in limbo, Chappy was climbing that corporate ladder. He had surpassed my salary within a year after we moved. I was no longer the bread winner. I was unsure of what my future held, so I just took it one day at a time.
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