Five years after selling his privately held company, the principle partner hosted a reunion for anyone who ever worked for him. This was an all expense paid trip to an out of state resort where the 75+ people from across the country enjoyed incredible hospitality, food, live music, recreational opportunities – just for him to say thank you. What a wonderful, generous person!
Archive for March, 2009
Fired with Dignity
On March - 5 - 2009
I worked for a privately held company that had one standard rule. Steal from the company, and you are fired. A manager of a remote facility was arrested for dealing drugs. The company stood behind her as she was arrested, not convicted for dealing drugs. As the weeks unfolded, it became apparent that she had a drug problem herself. It also became apparent that she had stolen thousands of dollars from company receivables. So she had stolen from the company and as a result, she lost her job. However, the owners of the company personally paid for in-patient treatment for her drug addiction (not covered by insurance at that time), paid her house payment for six months and ensured her children were well cared for as well. Yes, she lost her job, but hopefully got her life back.
The Audacity of Hope
On March - 4 - 2009
I was working for a privately held multi-state company run by four extraordinary people. We were recruiting to fill a high turn over receptionist role and found an excellent candidate – at least until the reference checking phase of the process. Upon calling her last boss, who gave a glowing reference, things just did not feel right. So, I called the company’s CEO to verify the reference. As it turned out, the candidate had given her boyfriend as the reference, and he was covering up the three year period of time when the candidate was in jail for dealing drugs. The CEO knew this and shared the information with me. Now, this is where most of us would expect the story to end….. Sharing the dilemma with one of the principles of the company, his perspective on the situation was different than most. He summed it up by saying, “What do we have to lose, and what does she have to gain”? We gave the candidate an opportunity to tell us the truth, she did, and she was hired. She was incredibly grateful, very dedicated and worked many years until the company was sold. They treated all their employees incredibly well, even the convicted criminals.
Extraordinarily high level of testosterone covered by ADA?
On March - 4 - 2009
I was working for a national multi-billion dollar commercial bank. Shortly after a merger with another bank, an Executive Vice President from the other bank was being investigated for lude, inappropriate behavior. He was invited to the CEO’s office to discuss the allegations against him. He presented a note from his doctor excusing his behavior due to his extraordinarily high level of testosterone! (Yes, he was fired!)