Deceitfulness: A Tale of Trickery, Lust, and Money Power

By Fieona Griffiths

This engaging tale takes us on a journey with an executive in a multinational corporation, who, along with her team, had to skillfully navigate what seemed to them insurmountable challenges and difficulties in a corporate culture ripe with lust, deceit, greed and an insatiable desire for power. The story follows the obstacles they encountered and details how the characters employed biblical principles, corporate strategies, and academics to reorganize the company in the midst of fierce opposition to achieve success. Employers and employees alike will find encouragement or inspiration and perhaps valuable lessons along the way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098037956

Book preview

cover.jpg

Deceitfulness

A Tale of Trickery, Lust, and Money Power

Fieona Griffiths

Copyright © 2020 by Fieona Griffiths

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

All quotations are from the Bible (New Living Translation) and Peabody, Larry (Secular Work Is Full-Time Service, 1974), United States of America: Christian Literature Crusade Inc.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

The Call to Leadership

The Ghost Hotel

A Beacon in the Dark

Day of Reckoning

Leadership Overthrown

The Hearing

Vindication

Dedication

Deceitfulness: A Tale of Trickery, Lust, and Money Power , by virtue of its narrative, at once is intended as a dedication to legions of agents of the firm; be they managing directors, CEOs, managers or simply employees who believe that righteousness, justice, truth, honesty, and fairness are unrealistic/irrational ideals to aspire to in the workplace. Having spent the greater part of the last two decades of my professional life in management, I have been blessed (or cursed as it were) with invaluable insights on how to successfully navigate and manage major challenges typical of today’s corporate landscape.

It is therefore doubtless that entrepreneurs and their executives (CEOs) who are charged with minimizing losses, remaining profitable, and giving a return on shareholders’ investments, would find this book useful.

Indeed, this work may also be a source of empowerment to those employees who may feel they have been treated unfairly.

Employees of a Christian persuasion intent on holding fast to their faith, remaining righteous, blameless and survive a tumultuous work environment may find solace and share in the trials/testimony of others.

While not strictly a case study for change management, practitioners in that discipline may find that this work also attempts to tackle the matter of resistance to change in the corporate sphere.

A reading of this work, it is hoped, will grant the reader new insight on how to successfully manage at least one corporate challenge.

Chapter 1

The Firm

Initiation

After being on the job for approximately six months, Bellatrix got a phone call from a corporate head hunter inquiring about her updated résumé and stated that she should come for an interview with or without the updated résumé the following day. She was dumbfounded as she could not recall giving the head-hunting company her résumé, and she did not understand why the sudden haste regarding the interview. Nevertheless, she showed up for the job interview without even knowing for what position she was being interviewed. The interview lasted for several hours, which focused on her past experiences. The only thing she knew about the current job was that it was a collections post.

So what if they want you to focus on collections? I want you to show them that you have sense, said the interviewer. She was then asked to update her résumé but later, in a matter of seconds, was told that the résumé would be sent to the potential employer.

The following day, she was called for another interview and was sent to the potential employer, Liquid Black Gold International. She met with the human resource manager and a lady from Venezuela. The lady had a big notebook and seemingly wrote every word that Bellatrix was saying. When Bellatrix asked about the job, she was told that there were no policies in place and the sales representatives would just sell without any regard for collections.

Bellatrix laughed and said, Well, the money has just gone up. This she said after being asked her expected salary moments earlier. Her laughter reflected her nonchalant attitude toward the job. She had a job and was just watching how fast and serious the interviewers were about the pending job. Bellatrix’s friend who knew of the calls for the job interviews was upset, and she claimed that there were people who needed a job but did not have the same opportunity as she did, and yet she was taking it so lightly.

The next day she was called by the human resource manager of Liquid Black Gold International for another interview, and this time it was with the chief executive officer (CEO) for the company. At the interview, Bellatrix noted that her résumé was fully highlighted. The CEO seemed very impressed.

You have a lot of experiences, but we want you to focus on collections, said the CEO.

The interview ended after an active discussion with the CEO, and Bellatrix hired a cab back to her office. As soon as she got back and sat at her desk, her phone rang. It was the human resource manager. He informed Bellatrix that of all the persons that were interviewed for the position, she was selected. She was still taking the opportunity frivolously until she learned that the salary was significantly more than her current salary. She agreed to take the job. She soon received a call from her current human resource manager stating that the company was restructuring and her contract would not be renewed.

That is all right, I was not planning to stay as I had received a new job, said Bellatrix boldly. It was then she became thankful for the opportunity.

The Lay of the Land

Three weeks later, Bellatrix showed up to her new job. Her meeting with the CEO, Harvey, and the human resource manager, Todd, revealed that they had terminated the receivables manager on the Friday and she was showing up for work on the Monday. She was astonished and unhappy. She wondered how she would be received considering this change of management. However, she was assured that she would be happily received, considering that the previous receivables manager did not get along very well with the internal and external customers. After the brief meeting with Todd, she was escorted by him to her office. As she looked around her glass office that overlooked the sea, she saw a box with accounting files with the name of one of her coworkers that she had met in one of the cubicles. There were no files related to receivables, neither were there filing cabinets or pedestals. The files she saw had gathered lots of dust and dated current and a few years back. She saw hardened rice grains and coffee dust on the dirty desk. Bellatrix was puzzled as to what was happening with her predecessor, and as she began clearing the desk, one of her staff came inside her office and began explaining that the office was like that as he did not get along with anyone, not even the cleaning lady, and as a result, the office was rarely cleaned. She also explained that her predecessor would often brew his own coffee at work or take his blender to make shakes. She said that he would sometimes leave the office for lunch and return drunk. A few seconds later, Bellatrix saw the cleaning lady, who volunteered to have her office cleaned. Bellatrix was grateful.

The first order of business for Bellatrix was to meet her two staff and get to know them, in addition to what they had been doing. So she called them after her office was cleaned. The first person she interviewed was the staff who gave her explanation for the state of her office. She was very pleasant, light skinned with blue eyes and short, curly hair. Her name was Paula.

Paula spoke about running the receivables report and e-mailing it to the persons who should receive them as well as releasing the products to the customers. She made no mention of an analysis or calling done to follow up on the payments. She quickly switched the conversation to asking Bellatrix if there was anything she needed to do, she should consider it already done. She also offered to order her lunch from the office’s cafeteria. Bellatrix noted that she was quite talkative while the other staff, Dian, was more reserved; and every time she opened her mouth to speak, her thoughts were met with interjections from Paula.

Dian’s hair was straight and was about shoulder’s length, but she was not as well kept as Paula. Bellatrix observed that Paula would not give Dian a chance to speak, and so she ended the meeting abruptly. Also present in that meeting was Giselle, the Venezuelan who was the interviewer, who sat throughout the entire meeting and just observed; but as soon as the meeting concluded, and both Paula and Dian, were out of the office, she blatantly said, Dian is the one that calls the clients for money and tries to get things done and not Paula.

This was not surprising to Bellatrix as she had recently completed a course at her previous job called managing with emotional intelligence. This course taught her how to assess people using various signals and not just listening to what is being said. She thought Paula was too talkative and very distracted in wanting to serve her.

Bellatrix’s experience on the previous job was only six months, but it was an experience that she would never forget. She was invited to seminars and was chosen by the CEO to serve on a team that was geared toward collections and utilizing several pertinent strategies which served as building blocks for her current job. She quickly had the finance manager teach her how to retrieve the receivables report and quickly placed it in a pivot table and sorted the data using VLOOKUP so she could analyze the data very quickly and obtained a more meaningful report. To her surprise, the debt was over eleven million dollars (USD) and the current situation based on what she was told was far worse than the reality. She quickly printed her analysis and a proposal, which outlined the inadequacy of the department which allowed it not to function effectively and efficiently and how this could be improved. This was taken to Todd and Harvey as, in the absence of a supervisor, they were both in charge. Todd was alarmed and exclaimed that he had no idea that the debt was so huge; Harvey said he had never seen those reports since he began working there years ago. They also explained that they were aware that there were incompetent staff in the accounts department and that some staff were only there by default. They mentioned that Paula had been through several departments and had not done well and had no experience in accounts. The CEO highlighted that if Bellatrix needed her to be removed, he would have her as his secretary or even pay her to leave. They also mentioned that it should not be difficult as she was not unionized. Bellatrix was quite astonished by the CEO’s expression of Paula’s incompetence; he was willing to have her work with him. She did not question his decision however.

The following day Bellatrix received a call from Harvey that he needed some important invoices to be analyzed for a meeting at the head office in Venezuela and he only had three days. He also told her to assign the duties to her two staff, Dian and Paula. She went back to her office and called a meeting with Paula and Dian, who were both receptive. After the meeting was adjourned, to her surprise, Paula stormed back into her office, shouting and gesticulating that she would not be carrying out the tasks and she was not afraid of the CEO.

So you are not afraid of the CEO and will not complete a task that he has commanded? Bellatrix reiterated.

No, I will not do it! said Paula.

Bellatrix was very calm but very surprised at her erratic behavior. She was also very happy as this was the perfect opportunity to have Paula terminated. She rushed to Harvey’s office and explained what had happened and how she had defied his authority. Harvey told Bellatrix to speak with Todd, who later told her that he would have a meeting with her. Bellatrix then went back to her office and looked outside only to see Paula sitting outside smoking, talking on her phone and gesticulating erratically. Bellatrix watched for a while; several hours had passed, and it was evident that she had not released the products for delivery to the clients and the other employees were complaining. Bellatrix was terrified of Paula’s erratic behavior and wondered if she was reporting her to anyone who would cause her harm. While at the same time, all the orders were placed on hold for which Paula had the password. With the products on hold, this could cause uprising among the thousands of clients and huge potential loss for Liquid Black Gold International. The heads of the company were visiting Bellatrix’s office, telling her how critical it was for the products to be released. Bellatrix did not want this huge catastrophe to be to her credit. She suddenly saw Dian passing her office and called her and asked if she knew what to do, and alas, she said yes. Bellatrix was relieved. She asked Dian how she knew the password for the product releases and was told that the previous receivables manager was secretively telling and teaching her what to do.

Paula later returned to the receivables office, grabbed a few personal items, and then left shortly thereafter, heading in the direction of Todd. Bellatrix then saw an e-mail from Todd, which stated that effective immediately, Paula reports to him. Bellatrix quickly sent an e-mail to the Information Technology (IT) personnel to block her access to the accounting software.

Todd then briskly came to Bellatrix’s office and asked, What have you done?

I have blocked her access because she refuses to complete the assigned tasks given to her and you sent an e-mail stating that effective immediately, she reports to you, and if she no longer reports to me, she should not have access to the system under my management, said Bellatrix.

Todd told Bellatrix that she had put him in a position where he no longer knew how to deal with the situation. He then left her office. Dian came to Bellatrix’s office, stating that Paula was boasting that she would do to Bellatrix the same thing that she did to the previous receivables managers and that her stay would be even shorter than the previous managers. She also stated that it was customary for Paula to release products to customers even if their accounts were not cleared and that she had her special customers. Bellatrix was grateful for her instinct that allowed her to block Paula’s access, given what she had just heard. She pondered how it would appear if the CEO and senior management knew that the company’s products were being given away under her management.

A few minutes later Todd’s secretary burst into Bellatrix’s office, fuming with anger.

Why does your staff have her desk in the human resource department? She doesn’t know who I am, and if she plays with me, I will jump over my desk and grab her, said Todd’s secretary.

Bellatrix was astonished and wondered what that was all about. Bellatrix did not question her action out aloud but responded to her professionally and told her that she received an e-mail stating that Paula, effective immediately, reported to her boss and any other questions or concerns should be discussed with him. She later left Bellatrix’s office. As the secretary left Bellatrix’s office, she noticed how the secretary was well dressed, showing her curvaceous body. Her hair was neatly styled, and she had sophistication like Paula. As the secretary left Bellatrix’s office, she could hear the office staff talking about Todd and his secretary’s relationship.

Well, that explains her attitude, she cannot deal with the competition, Bellatrix remarked in her mind.

The day ended well, and Bellatrix was pleased as the operation’s activities went smoothly despite the complexities of the day.

A few days had passed, and Paula reported to the human resource department with absolutely nothing to do except dressing up and looking pretty. It became obvious that Todd was also having an affair with Paula as he demonstrated protectiveness. On the third day of Paula being out of the receivables department, there was an important report that had to be done, but Bellatrix did not know what to do, so she inquired of the finance manager Katherine. Katherine told her that she did not know what to do either and immediately called Todd to request assistance from Paula, who performed the task. Bellatrix could hear Katherine telling Todd that he needed to stop condoning Paula’s behavior as there was no handover of her duties and it was unacceptable for him to say that she said she was not going to show anyone how to do the report. Shortly after, Katherine hung up from Todd, Bellatrix saw an e-mail from Todd, inviting her to a meeting regarding Paula. She mentioned this to Katherine, who offered to accompany her for support.

When they went to the meeting, present were Paula, Todd, and to Bellatrix’s surprise, a gentleman who was described as Paula’s Union delegate. This was a surprise as Bellatrix was previously told by Todd that Paula was not unionized. Immediately, Bellatrix sensed that Todd was protecting Paula and her job despite what was said to her before regarding her being unqualified for the job and they wanted her out even if they had to pay her. The meeting was called to order, and Todd started the meeting by saying everything was a misunderstanding, and Paula said she was sorry. Bellatrix was shocked as to what was being said, as though Todd wanted everything to be downplayed. Bellatrix could not let that happen as the disrespectful offense was committed, and she thought that she risked being undermined by the other staff as a manager if discipline was not rendered according to the offense. It was obvious that she did not have the support of Todd. Bellatrix allowed them to speak then reiterated that the assignment that was given to her was very important to the company as the CEO needed it for a meeting with the owners of the company in Venezuela, and even Todd was trying to help, while Paula blatantly refused. Bellatrix also told them that she even refused to run a very important report that halted the company’s affairs. Todd then said that it was a misunderstanding and they would soon hear the outcome of the meeting. The meeting was then adjourned. Katherine sat through the meeting but said nothing, though she had an astonishing look on her face when she heard Bellatrix’s response.

There was another important report that she was tasked to generate, which Bellatrix did not know how to do, neither did Dian nor Katherine. Katherine then called Todd and explained to him. She asked that Paula come to the department to get this done but to no avail. This was not done. The following morning, Katherine and Bellatrix waited for Paula to come to the office but was told by Todd that she called in sick. Bellatrix was at her wits’ end but decided to fold her hand and relax, claiming that she could not get fired as she was in the first three weeks of her probation and there was no handover besides Katherine, who had been a manager and acted in the department, did not know. Fortunately for Bellatrix, Katherine located someone who was able to generate the report. Bellatrix surmised that Paula was not the astute worker she purported to be but had no idea that within a few days, she would have revealed herself so vividly. Before the day ended, Todd came to her office and said that Paula had resigned. This came as a surprise to Bellatrix. She wondered if they had paid her to resign.

It was not time to dwell on the few days of events with Paula as the task at hand was grave. Bellatrix retrieved her proposal regarding the structure of the department and e-mailed it to Todd and Harvey. It was not approved in writing, but she was told that she should go ahead and source persons to fill the roles. Although she did know the capabilities of Dian, she knew that she was not permanently employed, so she used the opportunity to ask Todd about her status. He went inside his filing cabinet and took out a file and shook it in front of Bellatrix and told her that he hired her. Bellatrix went to her office and called Dian to discuss her status; she did not even have an identification card nor an access pass. Her access pass was a temporary auditor’s pass. She told Bellatrix that the document Todd waved when she went to his office did not belong to her as she never gave them any document. Bellatrix did not continue the conversation with Dian as it did not appear that she was willing to explain how she got the job. She later went to the human resource manager’s secretary who was in charge of vacation leave, to ask about Dian’s vacation leave as she was working for almost two years without vacation but was told that she had no documentation on Dian so she could not speak to her vacation leave. Bellatrix needed to be sure of whom she was working with and their status but did not want to waste any more time. She later learned that sometimes managers hire staff and made payments to them through petty cash, but in Dian’s case, she was paid by check and was not on the payroll that was done in the human resource department.

Dian’s situation seemed very complicated and there was no point trying to find the answers, Bellatrix said to herself. She was happy that she got the consent for new staff, and that was what she was focused on.

The Shake-Up

Finding good staff to work was not an issue as Bellatrix had been a manager for years and knew of former staff who need jobs, and so she eventually hired two of them under Todd’s supervision. One staff was known to Bellatrix for three years, having worked closely with her and trained her in the area of accounting, specifically in the area of payables and working capital management. She had a good attitude toward work and was a fast learner. The other staff was Bellatrix’s friend and cousin, who was working with her for several years on many different jobs, and although the tasks on hand was a new area, she was equally a fast learner and very professional. No one knew that they were related due to the level of professionalism she displayed. Bellatrix had made her decision and was very confident that both ladies would assist her in achieving the company’s objectives.

Bellatrix implemented her proposal within one month of being on the new job. Reports were generated on time, calls were made to delinquent customers, and the debt was rapidly decreasing. Finally, Bellatrix got her supervisor, Louis. He was not supportive of anything she was doing. The receivables and other reports were sent to him in addition to the proposal to be signed off. Receivables policies were also done and sent to him for approval, but nothing was reviewed and sent back to her. However, that did not deter her from doing her job.

Shortly after Louis joined the team, a young lady called Brook joined the team as well. Her role was not identified, but Bellatrix was told by her boss that there would be a new person joining the team who was studying for her master’s and would be there to do her internship, and that was the way it was going to be. Bellatrix was taken aback as to why he needed to emphasize the phrase and that was the way it was going to be. Bellatrix soon realized that Brook was giving her staff instructions without her knowledge, so she had discussions with Louis and asked him about Brook’s role. He told her that she was there to take Glenroy’s position the accountant and further explained that Glenroy was dabbling in insider trading and was suffering from an illness. He said he was confiding in Bellatrix, and Glenroy was not aware of the pending loss of his job. He also mentioned that there were some receivables activities that he wanted Brook to do. Bellatrix said nothing to him but wondered to herself, if Brook were to do those work, what would she be doing? Bellatrix ended the meeting but not with a sense of satisfaction. She noted that Louis was plotting against the accountant and at the same time wanted Brook to do some aspects of her job. She couldn’t help but question which one of the jobs Brook was really there to take. One thing was for certain: Bellatrix noted that her manager could not be trusted, especially in light of the fact that there were improvements in the department. He was not in agreement with her proposed policies, and his explanation of Brook’s roles made no sense to her.

Bellatrix went back to her desk happily as she was not fazed by Louis’s unexplained intention. It was about two months, and her department was running smoothly, and that was all that really mattered to her. She took her prearranged time off and went to New Jersey to see her newly born twin nieces. She noted that Brook was placed in charge of her department during her absence. For a moment she questioned if when she returned, she would have a job, but that did not stop her from having a good time with her family. In fact, her staff kept calling and writing her, telling her that she needs to return to work as Brook was not competent in the position.

Bellatrix returned to work after spending one week with her family, her staff and the customers were quite pleased. It was now three months, and Bellatrix’s probation had ended. Bellatrix was asked to complete the evaluation sheet for review and discussion with Louis.

Louis brought the evaluation sheet to her office and remarked, I am not giving anyone more than good on this evaluation because sometimes they see a position that they want.

Bellatrix told him that this was one of the lowest positions she has held, and she was comfortable with the position she had. He then scored her good for all the categories. He also stated that she did good despite the challenges faced. Bellatrix was not pleased and sought redress from Todd. Todd explained to her that it did not mean much and that it was just to get her confirmed in the position and for her to get her pension and motor car allowance among other benefits. Bellatrix accepted Todd’s position on the matter and committed to remain focused on the job.

Everything was going well in Bellatrix’s department, but she noted that internal auditors from Venezuela, the corporation’s head office, were suddenly introduced to her and said they would be back to speak to her but did not return. She was on her way to a meeting with the CEO one day in the fourth