Message-ID: <18182349.1075840281117.JavaMail.evans@thyme>
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 00:59:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: kenneth.lay@enron.com
To: sarah.davis@enron.com
Subject: OK, Jeff, you requested that we be candid about Enron...
Cc: sherri.sera@enron.com, joseph.sutton@enron.com
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Sarah, Cindy Olson requested that I forward this to you for further handling.

Rosalee
---------------------- Forwarded by Kenneth Lay/Corp/Enron on 07/10/2000 
08:59 AM ---------------------------


Betty Alexander@ENRON_DEVELOPMENT
07/07/2000 06:37 PM
To: Jeff Skilling/Corp/Enron@ENRON
cc: Joseph W Sutton/ENRON_DEVELOPMENT@ENRON_DEVELOPMENT, Kenneth 
Lay/Corp/Enron@ENRON 
Subject: OK, Jeff, you requested that we be candid about Enron...

"Management does things right; Leadership does the right things." (Peter 
Drucker)

Today I began to wonder if I've been a fool in staunchly defending Enron's 
Visions & Values. 

An esteemed colleague of very strong professional reputation at Enron was 
recently approached by a hiring supervisor.  Totally unexpected & 
unsolicited, an offer was accepted; all seemed well as this Recruit got good 
feedback directly from clients & Enron upper mgmt.  But after a short time, 
suddenly Recruit was told that performance was unsatisfactory.  No specific 
behaviors or problems were identified as cause; no opportunity given to 
modify; Recruit was summarily removed to another floor with instructions to 
find another job.  Upon displacement she told me (~6 weeks ago), "I want 
avoid trouble for anyone; I just want to continue quietly at Enron and forget 
this."  

To date I have honored her request for silence, but all this hullabaloo about 
Enron being the best place to work makes her dilemma particularly upsetting, 
and there is ample evidence that her plight is not unique.  I refer here to 
Cindy Adams, formerly of Joe Sutton's office.  I don't care why it was 
decided not to use HR's counseling/review process designed to help when 
things go awry; I just know that Enron's best bet is to give this talented 
professional more time.  She writes:

...Last week, my HR Rep informed me that I have a deadline of July 15th in 
which to find a job...I have no assistance from HR or Recruiting.  I had 2 
interviews 5 weeks ago and I had to initiate those myself.  I've not received 
answers from postings I've responded to - I am left hanging without 
acknowledgment of any sort.

I have been approached and learned from others that the same thing happened 
to them with the same circumstances; one said that it took her a full 3 
months to land her present job.  I am not afforded that opportunity now ...

Jeff, would you please ask someone to remove Cindy's July 15 deadline?  There 
are no rules left to break here; Cindy is trying to proceed diligently & 
discreetly, but she is under duress by not having any feedback/support from 
HR.   With a little boost, it's not too late to bring this picture into line 
with Enron's vision of retaining topnotch people.  

Cindy has no idea that I'm writing on her behalf, and after this I intend to 
honor her wishes with silence.  But you must see the irony here, not to 
mention the double standard in how Enron's Visions & Values are applied to 
assistants all over Enron:  Cindy Adams was sought after, then abruptly put 
out of the office of Joe Sutton, who happens to be our V&V expert!  I'm not 
blaming Joe for anything; he is simply the backdrop in this example.  I 
remember Joe once used an expression at a floor meeting:  "believing your own 
baloney."  He wasn't talking about Visions & Values then, but "believing 
baloney" suddenly seems to fit for assistants who work at Enron.  You asked 
for candid; herein I have done my very best to give it to you.

Jeff, thanks for asking and listening.  I and my colleagues are listening 
too, but seeing is believing.

Respectfully submitted,

Betty Alexander
Sr. Administrative Assistant