SETTLING IN... at work (Part 107f)

Lying in bed that night I couldn’t help but think back to the first time I’d met Amy. It got me to wondering if the ”peeks“ that I had that day weren’t planned. Hmmmm... But there was more on my mind than Amy. That afternoon, after reading the press release about J J being hired I hadn’t let it bother me but as the evening wore on I wondered why he was getting special treatment. The release said that he was the new Assistant Vice President, an officer, and would be handling mortgage applications for the bank. There was something else as well. I’d overheard Hobie instruct Trish to get the paperwork ready to add J J to the health and hospitalization coverage as well as to the retirement system. When I was being interviewed I’d requested that I be covered for the medical insurance but had been told I’d have to wait for six months. To me, something was wrong.

Sleep didn’t come easy and I was waiting for Hobie the next morning. It was obvious that I’d put him in an uncomfortable situation so he motioned for me to follow him outside. By then it was uncomfortable for both of us. He really didn’t know how to start the conversation and he actually made a couple of attempts. Finally, he said that J J’s hiring had been a difficult one. He told me that when Chuck had died it fouled up the bank’s succession plans. He then warned me not to say anything concerning what he was about to tell me, to anyone. Edgar, the President, was not in good health and the plan was for Bert to take over if anything happened to him. However, they needed someone to take over Bert’s position as the mortgage officer. The plan had been to move Chuck upstairs and that was why Bret had been hired so that he could be trained to take over Chuck’s position. The problem was that it was Chuck that died and Bret only had a few weeks of training. That’s why I was hired. Hobie went on that the Board of Trustee’s got a little panicky and ”pushed“ to hire someone with mortgage experience, just to be sure. When J J was interviewed he won them over right away. However, to get him to say ”yes“ to the offer he did some negotiating. He wanted to be brought in as an officer of the bank and to have his retirement and health benefits carry over from his previous employer. At that point I was pretty much satisfied that I had the reasons for the actions that the bank had taken. As we started back into the bank Hobie put his hand on my shoulder and, very quietly, said ”Just have a little patience... you’ll see.“ I had no idea what he meant by that but I definitely took it as a ”plus“.

It was a day or two after that when Hobie called me over to his desk. He also called Trish over. I had no idea what it was about but he ”cut to the quick“ and told Trish that I was going to be taking over for him as the contact person between the bank and the benefits administrators in the city. He asked her to work closely with me on the transition. He also told me that he’d be available for guidance but that Trish pretty much knew the routine. I remember being somewhat excited about the news although I had no idea what the new responsibility entailed. As Trish and I walked away I got the distinct impression that she wasn’t all that happy about the change.

The first thing I asked her for was a roster of the employees. She had a way of making facial expressions that sometimes eliminated the need for words. This one made me feel like I’d spoken to her in a foreign language. I explained that I was looking for a list of all the employees, their positions, and level of benefits. She continued to just stare at me. I finally told her to say something, anything, to let me know she was alive. At that point she shook her head from side to side and quietly said there wasn’t such a list. I asked her how had they managed the benefits without it and she pointed to a file cabinet and said that whenever there was a change she’d go to the individual personnel file and make a notation. Now it was turn to shake my head... in disbelief.

I waited until Hobie was just about ready to leave for the day before approaching him. I don’t remember the words that were spoken because he was in a rush but I did manage to briefly describe what I’d been looking for and asked him if I had his permission to create one. I wasn’t sure he fully understood but he said to go ahead with it. I walked across the lobby floor towards the door with him and just as he got to the door I told him I’d like permission to take the personnel files home to do it. His reaction was a firm ”No!“ but he gave me an opening by asking why. I told him I didn’t know how I’d find time during banking hours plus I didn’t think having the files out with employees around was a good idea. I remember him staring at me with a frown. I told him I was perfectly willing to work on the project at home, on my own time, without pay. It was obvious that he had doubts but finally gave in and said ”OK“. Back inside,Trish wouldn’t turn the files over to me. I didn’t get upset knowing that she was probably right and that the details could be worked out the next day.

Hobie still wasn't ”sold’ on the idea the next morning but did give Trish the OK to box them up for me. I worked up a format during the day using a spiral, ten column pad. In looking over one of the personnel files I discovered that there were four individual benefits; retirement, life insurance, hospitalization, and major medical. I didn't even know about the life insurance so that was nice to know. I felt that to make the roster more complete and beneficial for reporting purposes I needed to add the date of employment, number of persons claimed for tax withholding purposes, social security number and... salary. I wasn’t going to show it to Hobie but “chickened out“ just before we left. I fully expected him to make some suggestions but he didn’t. He did tell me to run it by Trish since she’d be the one to maintain it. When he told me that I figured I was in for some grief. Instead, after answering some questions, she actually told me that she thought it would turn out to be very useful. That pleased me to no end.

To be continued...