It was a normal Monday until I got a mail about an induction schedule. The issue was that the position this person was joining for was still occupied in the system, there was no resignation either. I knew immediately that this would trigger a chain of reactions.
I almost ran out of the meeting room to see if this mail could be recalled. Too late. The damage was already done. You could see it in their faces.
I called up the person who was going to get impacted. Both of us knew this was coming, but not like this. Not through an accidental email. I called people in his team, they already knew. Everyone had their own versions of what happened and why. Someone said “You never know when you’re inducting your own replacement without your knowledge.”
I wanted to make sure people in my team from that market wouldn’t get caught in this. A couple of weeks later, I went and met him in person. I gave him a certificate thanking him for going beyond the call of duty always, and a pair of designer cuff links. I was glad the gesture resonated with him.
A week later, another person in that market put down his papers. That incident, the uncertainty of what was happening was the trigger.
I was busy on a Friday, I get a call, didn’t want to pick it but picked it while rushing somewhere. His voice. My stomach dropped.
The person we’d made the gesture for decided to put down his papers. He told me it meant a lot. But he was already in interviews when I went and met him. The sentiment was right. The timing was wrong.
I wish I’d acted as soon as I had the hunch, the moment I walked into the bay and saw people’s faces. Once someone tastes what’s out there, you can’t get them back