In the Trenches: To your health

Acme learns something about selecting candidates for promotion.

PlantServices.com

Recognizing an apparent gender gap and fears about the brain drain resulting from anticipated retirements within the next few years led Acme management to make a concerted effort to hire, integrate and promote women into what are considered to be nontraditional jobs. To make the program more successful, management sought to identify female employees who could serve as role models and mentors for new hires.

One such candidate was Cassie Opia. She joined Acme’s maintenance department as a technician in early 2001. Highly competent, Cassie proved her mettle and, through several promotions, rose to maintenance manager by mid-2002. Some of the reasons were her willingness to help others succeed and never refusing to help solve technical and management problems in other departments.

During his “state of the company” address at Acme’s 2003 year-end celebration, president and CEO Cornelius Kegg named Cassie “Employee of the Year.” Indeed, Cassie was a rising star.

But life isn’t always fair. Even before Acme hired her, Cassie had been diagnosed with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. It’s a no-win situation in which numerous cysts form in the kidneys and then fill with fluid. This slowly replaces much of the kidney’s mass, which reduces renal function.

Cassie had learned to cope with the frequent back pains, headaches, urinary tract infections and bloody urine that are symptomatic of the malady.

Several months after her promotion, Cassie’s condition worsened and the updated diagnosis was end-stage renal disease (ESRD). This means outright kidney failure, the ultimate outcome in nearly half the cases such as hers. This twist complicated her coping mechanism. Until a suitable replacement kidney could be found, Cassie underwent hemodialysis, a process that circulated blood through a machine for cleaning it before it reenters the body. Each dialysis session requires about four hours.

Staring in late 2002, Cassie began her treatments at a downtown kidney clinic. This required her to be out of the plant for three afternoons each week. To maintain a 40-hour work week, Cassie sought and received approval to use a flex-time schedule. She arrived at work two hours early on her treatment days, which allowed her to leave early. On the mornings after a treatment, Cassie was in some amount of discomfort. Quite often, she arrived nauseous, only to became weak and listlessness by noon. It’s not fun, and she prayed for the magic tissue match that must exist somewhere.

When her boss, Otto Hizmine, the plant manager, decided to retire early and enjoy life by circumnavigating the globe in his 18-foot sailboat, Cassie expressed a deep interest in taking over the job he was going to vacate. Otto indicated that he was already considering both her and Mollie Gwaynia, who managed the project engineering department.

Mollie had been with Acme for about a year-and-a-half, having been hired from a major competitor. Although she never graduated from college, she had been working in Acme’s industry for at least 26 years. Her job history, too, showed a pattern of regular promotions. Cassie, on the other hand, earned her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, but worked in the industry for less than 10 years.

Also, she was familiar with Acme’s computerized maintenance management system and the various software packages for producing the management reports that formed the basis for many of the decisions the department made.

Otto announced at one of the weekly executive staff meetings that Mollie would be replacing him when he sailed into the sunset. After the meeting, in Cornelius’ presence, Cassie asked Otto why she didn’t get the position.

Otto replied that it was her “situation.” Then, Cornelius pointed out that being an effective plant manager requires working a lot of hours. Surely, he said, a kidney transplant is in her future, and she’d be recuperating for at least half a year. Cassie expressed her opinion that promoting Mollie was not in Acme’s best interest and that she would never work as Mollie’s direct report.

Cornelius asked Cassie if she was interested in replacing Mollie to head the project engineering department when staffing changes became effective. He added that he’d view Cassie’s acceptance as a personal favor to him because operations in the project department were somewhat chaotic and disorganized. It needs to be straightened out, he said. Otto then chimed in to ask Cassie if she would please help to train Mollie on the maintenance software and bring her up to speed.

Cassie said she would only assist the others who were going to be training Mollie. Then she asked to be assigned as a maintenance foreman in one of the operating departments, but at her current pay rate and without the burdens of management responsibilities. This request was granted.

During the next few months, in addition to helping train Mollie, Cassie went back to swinging a wrench and working directly with the technicians. She found this new role offered a greater psychic reward than dealing with being passed over for a deserved promotion. Her personality, competence and attitude were now in demand. Her ego was soothed. Because several operating department foremen specifically asked if Cassie could be transferred to their department to straighten out some problem or other, she turned into a roving generalist. Then, when Acme tried to move her into a technician position – the same job she had when she started with the company – Cassie found another job and resigned her position at Acme.

Transplanting healthy kidneys into ESRD patients is now a common procedure. If the new kidney is healthy, it won’t develop post-transplant cysts. Such was the luck that befell Cassie and she no longer requires dialysis.