Page 432 of Seasons of Love
“Frank will be here soon, so we need to reach a consensus. What’s our biggest worry? Profits and layoffs, right?”
Everyone agreed.
“The fastest way to get the resort up and running is to do all the repairs while we’re closed because then we don’t need to worry about disruption to our guests. We all agree with that?”
“Yes,” Pete said. “But if we close, will we reopen? I just can’t see how it would work.”
“For once, I agree with Pete,” Hailey said and then raised her finger. “Don’t get used to it though.”
Pete smiled, and Hailey continued. “I can’t see months of working around disruptions, closed-off areas, and the health and safety implications alone are giving me the hives. But at the same time, what do we do with our current staff? The impact on their income, their families, and the island can’t be ignored.”
“I agree wholeheartedly,” I said.
Brian snorted.
“Is there something you’d like to add, Brian?” I asked.
Out of the management team, Brian was the only one who’d been openly reluctant to accept me. I’d found out through Hailey that Brian had wanted the promotion but was unsuccessful. That hadn’t surprised me because, at his level, Brian still had a lot to learn before he was ready to manage the whole resort. It wasn’t about capability. It was simply about exposure to any real kind of experience stepping up from his role.
We’d made a plan to increase his responsibility so he’d be ready to step up when the opportunity came, but so far, I had seen little initiative from him.
“No, nothing,” he said under his breath.
“Good, because if you have any doubt about my loyalty and dedication to the resort or the people of this island, then we can take that conversation elsewhere. This isn’t the time or place for it.”
Brian gave me a defiant stare before sitting back in his chair.
“Okay, where were we?” I asked the room.
Jake raised his hand. “I have an idea, which may or may not work. I guess it’ll depend on the budget, but if it does work, then we could come back stronger than before.”
“Let me worry about the budget. Give us your idea,” I said.
Jake went over to the whiteboard and drew a grid with the various colored pens. I couldn’t help admiring the way his slacks hugged his ass and thighs. Even from behind, Jake was a striking man, and if we weren’t in a room full of people and at work, I’d be fucking him against that whiteboard right now.
Get your head in the right place, Mal. Both of them.
The last thing I wanted was to sport wood in front of my boss and uncle of one of the men I was currently in a relationship with.
Erection sufficiently deflated.
Jake finished his chart, and it was so well designed I already had a clue what he was about to propose.
“I told Alana about my proposal to upskill our staff using other resorts for training. She commented the other day at lunch how it would take forever for all the staff to have their turn at working in a different resort because usually, we’d only afford a few to be away from work at one time, and that’s assuming we don’t have anyone on a long-term absence.”
“Are you saying we should relocate everyone to the other resorts? How do you suggest they’ll afford the accommodation near the other resorts? Not to mention being away from home,” Brian said.
I wanted to hit him with something hard, but he did have a point, so I let Jake take the challenge. The difference between Jake and Brian was one hundred percent work ethic, experience, and attitude. If I left the resort tomorrow, I knew Jake could do the job, and he’d learn as he went. Brian would run it into the ground.
Not that I was thinking of leaving. If anything, my long-term career plans were taking a different route to what I’d expected.
“I took your concerns on board, Brian. You are right. Not everyone can travel and be away from home. What I propose is a resourcing matrix where we record everyone’s work aspirations, travel requirements, family responsibilities, et cetera. In a nutshell, this is how it could work. Mike in catering wants to move up a level. He’s single and lives with his family, and he’s happy to travel. We can relocate him to Silver Springs, where he can rent a small apartment while he works there. His salary will increase accordingly because there is a higher pay band in Colorado, and if with the additional money he can’t pay his living expenses, then we will supplement it.”
“And if they can’t travel?” Brian asked.
“A different example. Mrs. Solano looks after her grandchildren when her daughter is at work, so she can’t travel. We can offer her a mix of paid holiday, unpaid leave, and some shifts at the Silver Sands. Silver Sands is the closest, so I’d imagine we’ll have a majority of staff requesting to work there. We can work with Morgan to provide a free shuttle from the ferry to the resort. Once again, the salary at Silver Sands would be higher so no one would be out of pocket with the additional expense of the ferry.”
I walked up to the board and looked at the matrix where Jake had written some information off the top of his head but given us a picture of the options we could offer.
