Page 4 of Meet Me at the Altar

Yes, it was a Friday, and yes, it was three in the afternoon, but there were normally a few stragglers hanging around. Most people worked from home on Fridays, but there was a decent number of staff who came in anyway, since the building wasn’t packed.

Of all the people who came in today, I expected at least three people to still be in our department, but no one was here. I turned my lips down and headed to my office. No sooner than I sat down did June Pak, the VP of HR, knock on my door.

“Hey, June.”

“Hi, Kalliope. Would you please come to Jim’s office for a moment?”

“Sure. Let me lock my computer.” I frowned as I locked my computer and then got up. By the time that I made it out of my office, June had disappeared into Jim’s office, which meant she had to be walking fast.

Jim Baxter, the chief human resources officer, wasn’t usually in the office on Fridays. I thought it was odd when I saw him earlier, but I dismissed it. Although I had been in several meetings with him in the past, it was generally earlier in the week, and usually a few of us would meet at one time.

For June to be calling me into an impromptu meeting with him, something was amiss. I prayed that nothing had happened to any of my team. We had four department heads in HR underneath Jim and June. There was a ben and comp director, a learning and development director, a recruiting director, and me, the human resources director.

I oversaw a staff of fifteen people: four HR specialists, four HRBPs, four payroll specialists, two payroll analysts, and an HR assistant. Any number of them could be the reason that I was heading to the CHRO’s office, but I put my money on Shiloh, one of my specialists. He was always toeing the line.

I pushed all that to the side when I saw Jim sitting at his round conference table with a folder in front of him, and an envelope in front of the empty chair. My stomach lurched as I looked to June, but she kept her head up, staring straight ahead, which was odd. I wasn’t sure why she wasn’t making eye contact with me.

“Hey, Jim,” I greeted.

He bobbed his head, gave me a tight smile, and replied, “Hi, Kalliope. Have a seat.”

I took the seat that he indicated. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“Well, you know that we recently engaged in a Thomas assessment. As we have reviewed the assessment, our budget for next year, and several other metrics, we decided to make the tough decision to implement a reduction in force,” Jim explained.

“I thought we discussed this earlier last month, and the decision was made that there would be no layoffs, but we would freeze hiring, other than those associates we just hired for the warehouse,” I stated. “Whose department is impacted by this?”

I hated RIFs. Not only did it mean overtime for my employees, who loved the extra money but hated the long hours, but my heart always went out to those employees who were impacted. I worried about how they would make ends meet, the long-term impact on their lives, and their mental health.

My team did the best that we could to relay that news, find them other positions in and out of the company, and connect them with resources that would be helpful. We also communicated the news in a thoughtful and caring manner, understanding that they would be devastated by the news.

“Ours.”

“As in HR?” I asked.

Jim nodded. “Yes, HR.”

“But we’re working with minimal staff for the diverse companies under our group as is. Who’s going to handle?—”

“We’re outsourcing our positions.” June finally spoke up, cutting me off.

I rolled my eyes in her direction. “I’m sure that we could have come up with an alternative method. Those contracting companies?—”

“We’re outsourcing to our partners in India,” June stated, interrupting me.

I stared blankly at her and then at him. “What? It’s going to take some time for me to build those interpersonal relationships that I already have with our US team.”

“Kalliope, the layoffs impact you too,” Jim professed.

“Excuse me?”

June was too eager to speak now. “We’ve already relayed the news to the rest of your team. Everyone has been communicated with, including those working from home today. We’ve given them their severance packets, and today is everyone’s final day, including yours.”

I blanked out as June pointed to the packet and explained that my severance package was in the envelope and all the details that it included. I didn’t need her to tell me anything. I had this same conversation with hundreds of employees through the years, so I knew what came with it.

“We’ve included twenty-four months of pay, a twenty percent bonus, and one year of healthcare. We’ve also included another bonus of paying out your vacation pay, although you’ve taken two weeks. We simply need you to sign the first page, and your pay will be distributed on the next payday,” Jim explained.

I kept staring at the envelope in front of me until June cleared her throat and stated, “I know this is devastating and unexpected for you, Kalliope. We did all that we could to try and save several positions.”