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“Don’t look at me like that. If I’m wrong, tell me this, did José earn his bonus last quarter?”
She glared at him. Why did he have to pick on José?
“Well, did he?”
“Not in the traditional sense, no, but he did his best and …”
“And his best wasn’t good enough to get the job done, was it?”
She sighed. José had screwed up and lost one of their biggest distributors a couple of months ago. It hadn’t been his fault, though. “No.”
“But he still got his bonus, right?”
She nodded.
“And so, you just removed the incentive from it. They know they don’t need to give it their all to get their bonus.”
“But they do!”
Grant shook his head. “Even if we don’t argue that point any further, let’s just look at the amount you pay as a bonus. That really is crazy.”
She started to speak, but he held up his hand to stop her.
“Let’s be honest about this. Even if I subscribe to your theory that company profits don’t need to be so outrageous, I still can’t accept what you’re doing. You’re not talking about having hundreds of thousands left over to just sit in the bank. What you’re doing is taking away reinvestment opportunities. You’re stinting potential growth of the company.”
She frowned, but she kind of knew what he meant.
“If you think long-term, are you really doing your employees a service by giving them money that could be reinvested into growing the company?”
She glowered at him, but didn’t say anything.
“Do you think José would rather have his bonus and then lose his job when you go broke, or miss out on his bonus because you used that money instead to strengthen the business?”
She made a face. “You don’t really expect me to answer that, do you?”
“I’d like you to. You see, the way you’re running things looks like you’re only focused on the short-term.”
She blew out a sigh. “Okay, okay. I get it, but I really do want to take care of them. It’s important to me.”
“I know that, and don’t get me wrong, I admire it, but you need to be smart about it. You’re not going to take very good care of them if you get them used to having a decent income and then leave them with no income at all because you can’t afford to keep Zosca going.”
“I get it. So, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying that’s why I want to go through my second set of recommendations. The ones I’d make if you do decide to go out on your own.”
She pursed her lips. “Thank you.”
He smiled. “You’re welcome. I’m really not trying to be an asshole.”
She looked up into his eyes. She already knew that. He wasn’t an asshole. He was a good guy. “Where do you want to start then?”
“Like I said. I think we should start with the normal recommendations I would make at this point. The ones your father wants to hear, and you don’t.”
She made a face.
“I know you’re not going to like them, but I’m hoping that after hearing these, then what I have to say about you going out on your own will seem much less harsh.”
She had to smile. “You mean you’re trying to soften the blow?”
