Beneath the Cover

In 14 years of Human Resources, I've collected my share of stories about candidate interviews.

I've seen a job applications completed in lipstick, eye liner and even a green crayon, despite there being pens in the reception area.

I've had a young man take out his cell phone, initiate a call to his friend, have a 20 minute conversation (during a 30 minute interview), and then ask if he got the job.

But the most memorable is the following story:

As a Recruiter at one company, I found the perfect candidate for an managerial position. Every one of the senior staff agreed after several phone interviews. His references were top notch. We hired him and asked when he could start.

The Texan said he and his wife could be in Connecticut to start his job Monday. They arranged for a local hotel to stay until they found a place, and headed out.

Monday came; the new hire didn't show.

He didn't call.

He didn't answer his cell phone.

On Tuesday, he was still a "no show."

By Wednesday, I had no choice. I called the "Number 2" candidate and gave him the job.

We all wondered what happened to the first choice. In the end, we concluded that he got a better offer elsewhere and we would never hear from him again.

Nearly a month later, the receptionist transfers a call into my office. "It's the no-show asking if the job is still open."

I was a little irked that he had the nerve to call after all this time of silence. I used my "official HR" voice to explain that since he didn't show, nor call, nor answer his phone, we gave the job to someone else. 

Then he told me why he didn't show that Monday...

Somewhere in Virginia, on the drive from Texas to Connecticut, his car was struck in a head-on collision with a truck. He had been in a coma all this time. His wife is still in the hospital.

He had the paperwork from the police, doctors and hospital ready to testify this was the absolute truth.

Now that he was out of work with massive amounts of medical bills, he was willing to take any job. It didn't have to be the manager's position, just any job to help pay the bills. I could hear him choke up begging me for a job.

Unfortunately, I had no job to give him...

There are times when we hear something completely different than what we expect to hear. We go into a situation belieiving we know the whole story.

There could be a different story beneath the cover.

What is under the cover

Of each person we find

Take time to listen

To find story behind

~ESA

Competition and Compassion

Too often in the corporate world, it's "dog eats dog." I want to share with you something that happened today between direct competitors that warms the heart.

Among our clients, there are two companies, one large - one medium, that are the exclusive producers of a particular product. The raw materials for this product are the same. They have been in direct competition for decades.

Yesterday, one realized that they had run out of one of these raw materials. The next delivery is slated to arrive via rail "sometime" next week. But unfortunately, there is no guarantee on delivery dates with rail, it could be as long as another two weeks. They will be completely out of that product by Monday. This means the equipment must stop - everything on the manufacturing floor will come to a complete standstill. Dollars will tick away with every minute those machines must wait for that raw material. Anyone who has experience with manufacturing knows this.

Their direct competitor - their only competitor - had that very raw material available at their facility. They offered a truckload - at cost - to help. They could have jacked up the price, or not offered it at all. They could have used it as a way to win sales from their competitor who would thus miss their deadlines.

But they didn't. They acted with compassion.

This isn't the first time this has happened, either. Over the decades there have been times when one or the other found themselves in need of help. There have been plant fires, floods and times when they find themselves short of material due to late shipments or other issues that crop up in any business. Each and every time, they have acted with compassion to the competition.

Too often we hear about the ugly side of American corporations. While I cannot share who these companies are, due to confidentiality, I will salute all they have done over the years.

~ ESA

Business Emergency Preparedness - Irene

As we prepare for the possibility of Hurricane Irene, I issued the notice below to all the company employees where I work. I wanted to share this with my readers in case it helps them prepare for this Hurricane or a similar emergency in the future.

My prayers are with all who are in the Hurricane's Path; plan, prepare and be safe everyone!

- ESA

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Good morning, Employees,

Due to the possibility of a Hurricane in the area of our corporate office, please be aware of the following procedures to minimize business interruptions.

• Evacuation: Considering elevation and proximity of the offices to the river, there is a remote possibility that the offices will be in an area of evacuation. In that unlikely event, no employee will be permitted access to the offices.

o We require that all employee phones be forwarded to cell phones by the end of the day today, Friday August 26^th. We will notify employees via phone if the offices are closed.

o We require all employees back up their computers by the end of the day.

o We require that all employees who have laptops bring them home, leaving the backup drives in the office fireproof safe.

o We request that all paperwork and other business items that may be needed for the next week be taken home by the employees today.

o We will mail out all checks due as payables Friday afternoon in the mail drop-box for Saturday pickup.

o We do not believe that our second-floor offices will see any water damage if there is local flooding, thus we do not need to take further precautions.

• Power Outage / Extended Power Outage: If the possible event of extended power outage, we require all key employees to take the additional necessary steps. Please keep in mind, depending on the hurricane’s severity, power outages could last up to a full business week. Cell / mobile phone signals will cease after 6-8 hours of continued power outage, due to power failures at the tower – regardless of the charge in your mobile device. Internet service will not be available if your home router does not have power; back-up / surge batteries only last a few hours. Further, if your local internet servers (located off your property) do not have power over an extended period, internet service for the area will be disrupted.

o By no later than Saturday, August 27th, we require that all key employees post an auto-response message notifying the possibility that we may not have access to e-mail. Given our remote webhosting provider’s capabilities, our new messages will be kept online until we can sync to them via laptop or mobile device. We can remove the auto-response message once the hurricane is past, our local areas has continuous power and the ISP service is functioning.

o Have a corded phone in either your home or to take with you to a location at which you will be located. When a power outage occurs in your local area, use the initial battery backup to the mobile phone system to forward your phone to the landline with the corded phone. You can remove that forward once you confirm that continuous power is returned to your area and the local cell phone towers are functioning. In the event that the landline phone service (which is powered with its own lines) does not function at your location for an extended period, please consider the possibility of a hotel or other location which has phone service available.

o Conserve the battery of your cell phone, laptop and other mobile devices. We strongly recommend, during a power outage, to use the devices for key business and emergency calls only. We also recommend you shut down any devices when you are not using them. We strongly recommend keeping all mobile devices plugged in, whenever possible, until the hurricane arrives to ensure maximum battery charge.

o Have a battery-powered radio to listen to local news. This will serve in the event you need to evacuate your area, as well as inform you after the storm to what areas of the state have power. In the event that you do not have one (or if the batteries fail), remember you can also use the one in your automobile.

o Bring with you the power supply / cords for your cell phones, laptops and mobile devices. In the event of extended power outages, listen to the radio for in-state locations with power. If possible, you can travel to those locations to use your devices there, to provide power, local mobile service and internet connection. Some suggestions include libraries, McDonalds, Starbucks and other locations with public wi-fi spots.

We sincerely hope and pray we will not experience either of these situations this weekend or the coming week, but we sincerely appreciate everyone’s preparations to ensure no significant interruptions to the business.

Thank you.