Second Chances, or to the Past

With his admission of guilt, the criminal phase of the trial ended. It was now time for the penalty phase. I suspended him short-term, until I could decide what long-term action was warranted to address such a serious integrity issue.

I was leaning towards termination, but learned never to make decisions when I am emotionally “peaked”, and let’s just say I was definitely “peaked” after being lied to for the past half an hour.

His anger transitioned into regret, as I witnessed the heaviness of depression spread across his face. This guy made his bed, and now he had to sleep in it. He was loved by his reps, mostly for the wrong reasons, and loved by HR, definitely for the wrong reasons.

His departure was slow, and steady, literally leaving a trail of tears as he departed the building. The floor didn’t realize that he wasn’t termed, and viewed his departure as a loss to their family.

As I was contemplating his separation from the company, I was once again forced to accept that there was no bench strength in the general population to pull from. The one person who had the experience was Bonnie (reference Bonnie and Clyde), but with Clyde still being an active employee, she was not a long-term option.

We placed adds in the paper, and the search was on for a new supervisor.

After two weeks of suspension, I called the Pretender and set up a meeting with him at a local bar, which was close to his home. I had an offer for him; an offer that he couldn’t refuse.

When I pulled into the parking lot, he came over and got into my truck where I was going to consider offering him a second chance.

I had already decided that if he gave me any attitude, or displayed any manorism that I didn't like, I would term him and our meeting would be to drink to old times. If he humbled himself, and graciously approached the meeting, we would drink to second chances and an opportunity to do business a little longer. His approach was the later. In crystal clear dialogue, I laid out the terms of my offer. My terms included placing him on a “Final Written” for the integrity issue, and a fact his leash had been shortened, and that he would have to re-build my trust in him.

We then went inside and ended up drinking to second chances…