Employee Retention

This is a real story, happened about 25 years back. I received an interview from a good company with a slightly higher salary. In order to appear for the interview, I applied for half day leave in the morning pretending to be sick.

When I attended the office in the afternoon, my boss greeted me "Hello, How did you fare in the interview? Got the job?".. Needless to say I was shocked. How come my boss knew about my interview? Since there is no point in pretending I told him that I attended an interview and it was successful. Unable to contain my surprise, I asked my boss "how do you know that I attended an interview".. He asked me to meet him in the evening in his chambers.

Dutifully, I met him in the evening. There were no computers those days.

He showed me the "Outward Register" and pointed out that about 20 letters a day, on an average, are leaving from my table. In the last 3 - 4 days it came down to 4 to 5 letter day. "that means you are not interested in the job and your mind is elsewhere" concluded my Boss.

Secondly, You applied for half day leave in the morning citing sickness as a reason. "How do you know that you will become alright by afternoon?" smiled my boss, "unless it is fake".. I had no answer. Because you are a workholic, you attended the office in the afternoon.

Thirdly, your face is glowing with a sense of achievement. How can a sick man's face glow like that. "it means you got the job" said my boss. With no explanation to offer, I surrendered and told him the whole story. He dissuaded me from joining the new job and offered me a hike in salary, which I gladly accepted and continued working there.

I though of sharing this story with all.