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Enron Mail |
Some interesting thoughts - many do hit home. Thought that I would pass th=
is along so that we can discuss it when we get together for lunch tomorrow.= --Sally=20 -----Original Message----- From: =09Superty, Robert =20 Sent:=09Tuesday, October 30, 2001 12:21 PM To:=09Beck, Sally; Hall, Bob M Subject:=09Employee retention Sally, Bob - just a thought about where we currently are and how we help ma= intain solid leadership for the future. As I looked around the room at your= breakfast meeting today it appeared many of the people in important manage= ment roles were probably at an age where they would like to stay at Enron, = work hard and hopefully be able to take care of immediate family needs (col= lege, etc.) and then retire with a enough to enjoy their elder years. Other= s were probably at an age where career changes are in their plans so it's t= he quick hits that will make a difference. Maybe the mix was 50/50. Clearly= I'm in the former category. Several people at the meeting commented about = the severe impact the current situation has had on their retirement plans a= nd how the time left to make this up is a concern. In my relatively short t= ime here (3 1/4 years) I have made the following observation. Enron has a g= reat Associate and Analyst program and these employees contribute immediate= ly to the company. In addition Enron has a very young and mobile workforce = that provides great flexibility and energy to our efforts. No doubt this ha= s led to the great success over the years. However at the end of the day th= e business requires a level of maturity and experience that very effectivel= y complements this young and very talented workforce. Helps pull things tog= ether and keep the sanity. In many cases this translates to employees in th= eir mid to later years of their work life. During the good times no problem= as bonus $'s and other vehicles take care of things. However we are possib= ly in a situation where those are limited or reduced to some extent for som= e extended period of time. =20 Question: Do we need to do something positive, send a signal, to our middle= aged and more senior employees that we understand the importance and value= you add to the company and are willing to take a look at our pension/retir= ement plans. When we come out of this current situation what will the compa= ny look like? Will most of the younger crowd leave for the "quick hits" els= ewhere? How do we maintain and protect our more senior employees. How do we= keep them here before they take another job that offers them additional se= curity? Listening to Ken Lay at the employee meeting when asked a question = about pension I don't believe he really knew what type of retirement progra= m we have in place. It really is, save all you can in your 401K and then we= 'll give you this cash balance vehicle to subsidize it. I know the cash bal= ance option is a newer vehicle that many companies are moving to but Enron'= s is rather weak. Many companies apply a larger percentage than Enron's 5%.= Obviously this all has a cost, I know these plans were carefully considere= d over the years and changing anything at this point is not going to happen= . In addtition this probably goes against our culture in many respects and = I'm not saying lets make this a job for life. We still need to manage our w= orkforce as we have in the past and deal with employees that do not contrib= ute regardless of age.=20 Just wanted to share some honest thoughts and observations. I get concerned= when I look at the makeup of our workforce and think about commitment, loy= alty and ongoing leadership. I promise this isn't about me although I certa= inly have my concerns as I know you do also. =20 Thanks for listening - Bob
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