由威廉Dodson

我去一个惜别会几几星期前那是非常感人的。 Jim*，现在是一个亲密的朋友一个前客户的西部GM，被邀请我到看见的宴会公司的前制片人，地方Suzhounese说出Betsy名字。 我参与了作为辅导员我出席对公司的其中一次训练，当经理首先参加了公司，以前四年。 一旦，几年后，当经理在芝加哥附近参观公司的总部，我有她对我的家为了晚餐会能遇见邻居和其他地方中国朋友。 她非常享受汇聚。

四十个工友告别宴会四桌的夜总计有的会集说他们的告别，大约整个职员的百分之二十。 我来了与公司，也一个亲密的朋友的小时经理。 我非常感谢机会GM，并且小时经理给了我作为朋友和前 说的供营商再见对一个可爱的人。 愉快地， Betsy不知道我走向事理，并且拥抱我温暖的感谢我出席; 它是几乎二年，自从我们互相看见了在Suzhou和几乎四在公司羽毛球比赛期间，自从她丈夫和我相等地非常以一团队使用了。

The food had not been served yet, but Betsy was already saluting the others with her half-filled glass of red wine. Jim, the GM, had bought four cases of the stuff, Great Wall ‘94. It was going to be a long night. I asked Jim what kind of opportunity Betsy was leaving for. Chinese Way is typically to not be too clear when telling others the details of a new job. This case was no different: the best Jim knew, Betsy had been offered a GM position at a large Chinese manufacturer’s. “Anything she wanted,” Jim said. “There was no way I could compete.” The GM explained to me that her husband’s guanxi - special relationships - was very strong, and that the GM understood that through the husband’s relationships the offer had come up.

I replied that if that was so, the pressure for her to take the new position was likely inexorable: everyone in the Chinese family seems to get in on the individual’s decision, especially if an opportunity is wealth-providing; the individual’s happiness becomes subsidiary to the family’s requirements in this instance. In other words, though Betsy might have been happy as a lark at the current company, her family would have seen the opportunity for greater wealth and prestige as over-riding factors.

Throughout servings of skewers of sweet-spicy shrimps, black-pepper steak, steamed fish in soy sauce, pig’s intestine soup and more, the toasts became more ferocious. Jim and Betsy fared the worst. Nearly all of Jim’s staff, it seemed, came with glasses half and sometimes fully filled to salute their boss, whom they all appreciated and respected as a great leader. Meanwhile, Betsy was making second rounds to individuals at tables to salute them; whenever she returned to her seat coworkers would challenge her to another toast. Eventually, Betsy simply put her head on the table; it was unclear whether she was going to be sick or whether she was simply weeping. A clutch of young women, co-workers all, gathered around her. Some whispered soothingly to her, others rubbed her shoulders and back. Some of her attendants started to sob.

Jim called Betsy to the center of the restaurant banquet room to say a few words and to pass her a gift. The company had given her one of the most expensive of the consumer electronics items it manufactures, with her name engraved on its chassis. Betsy sniffled, and told everyone her experience at the company was the most fulfilling in her life, and would probably in the future remain so. She also told Jim he had been the best boss she had ever had, and gave him a warm hug. Misty-eyed, everyone clapped. By the time she returned to the table she was crying, in full swing. She laid her head down on the table again.

By now it was clear concluding affairs was not going to be straight-forward. Bob, the HR manager, called Betsy’s husband to come and collect her. It was a long goodbye, and continued to be a tearful one to the last possible minute. Her husband, a shy, soft-spoken Suzhounese, gently took her by the shoulders, lifted her to her feet, and began to guide her to the exit. An entourage of young lady co-workers trailed behind her, carrying her belongings. As she walked out she doled out hugs as if she would never see the people again, including me. By this time, everyone was sniffling, while many of the women were outright crying.

As Betsy finally made it to the entrance, I remarked to Bob in a low voice how touching it all was. He said simply, “This is what it is to be a human being - to have a feeling of belonging to something. Now she has to leave that feeling.”

What better staff retention plan could there be than that?
 

William Dodson, General Manager of Asia Base A/S - Law & Projects. His blog: This is China! BLOG

*all names have been changed