Employee Loyalty Blog: How do you solve a problem like Miranda?

How do you solve a problem like Miranda?

April 04, 2005
Greg Robinson, Employee Loyalty Blog

Do companies have any obligation to loyal employees? Here is the story of one such employee. Let us know what you think the company should have done.

Miranda was the second person hired by the company’s Hong Kong office in 1992. She was hired to be the office manager. By the time I got to know Miranda in 2000, she managed all of the administrative staff, suppliers, contracts, and finances for the business.

Over the years, Miranda demonstrated her loyalty to the business. When the company experienced one its “near death experiences” in 1993 and the Hong Kong office was going to be closed, Miranda volunteered to stay to the end rather than looking for a new job because she felt an obligation to the office she helped open. (The office stayed open due to the good graces of a global customer.) Whenever something difficult needed to be done or a problem had to be worked out with the U.S. headquarters, Miranda was the one to make it happen. Her efforts got her the nickname, “Momentie”, which is Cantonese for “no problem.”

After nearly a decade with the company, Miranda wanted to move from being a jack-of-all-trades to becoming a salesperson. As the first step in this process, we hired a business manager to relieve her of the contracts and financial management parts of the job. We then put her in charge of all global accounts requiring delivery support from the Hong Kong office. All was going well with the plan until the company’s 2002 “near death experience” led to the sale of the company and the SARS epidemic led to a severe contraction of the Asian business.

After the sale was completed, it was decided that a new sales position would be added in the Hong Kong office. Miranda seemed like a likely choice for it given her experience with the business and he role she was already playing with global accounts. It seemed natural that she would be given a shot at the job despite her lack of formal training as a salesperson.

Well as the circumstances would have it, Miranda did not get an opportunity to interview for the sales job. To make matters worse, she was taken out of the business when her position was eliminated due to cost issues. She was prevented from interviewing for the sales job and had her current position eliminated by the very same person to whom she had remained so loyal to in 1993!

While I am not questioning whether Miranda was the best qualified person for a sales job, I am curious as to what obligation a company has to give employees the opportunities to change careers internally. It would seem that if any employee had earned the right to try something new, Miranda would have been that employee. What do you think?

Poll Closed