It had never occurred to her to take annual leave in order to look after the dog. With her promotion process ongoing, the last thing she wanted to do was have a holiday from work, for any reason.
Now, though, it appeared that Clive had forced her hand. She wasn’t thrilled about it, but it would help as she juggled the short-term responsibility of caring for Stanley, and, judging by the unhappy look on Clive’s face, she didn’t have any choice over the matter, anyway.
She was relieved that Clive’s strained expression was caused by her failure to take annual leave, and not by anything connected with her promotion process.
“I’m sorry I caused a problem in your audit reports,” Grace said. “I had no idea that I’d accidentally stored up too many days and had no idea that not taking my annual leave was an issue.”
“There will still be more outstanding holiday time that you need to book over the coming two months to make sure this is all in order,” Clive told her. “I’m sorry I’m forcing you to take time right now when it might not suit your personal plans, but it is what it is.”
“It’s fine, and it’s my own fault for not paying attention. I won’t let it happen again.”
“Good,” Clive said, and clicked his mouse again and tapped at the keyboard on the desk. “I’m adding a note to your annual leave records to prompt you to get the rest of your time off booked as soon as possible, so this doesn’t end up being a problem again.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
Clive nodded and then turned away from the computer monitor. With the unexpected annual leave debacle now settled, Grace felt excitement return at the prospect of finally dealingwith the promotion process issues she’d come here to talk about in the first place.
But when Clive looked up at her and she saw that strained look was still on his face, Grace’s excitement was once more replaced with creeping unease.
“I know you almost certainly didn’t want to take a few days of annual leave right now,” Clive said. “However, I believe that you might be grateful for some time off once you’ve heard what I have to say next.”
Unease morphed into outright alarm at Clive’s words. The gloomy look on his face was growing darker by the minute.
“What’s going on? Is there a problem with my promotion application?”
Clive let out a sigh and looked her straight in the eye. “The business has taken the decision to suspend all promotion applications.”
“What?” Grace was stunned. “Why are they doing that?”
“Listen, you’re the first member of staff at this hotel outside the higher management to know about this. I know how hard you work and I know how much this promotion means to you, which is why I wanted to tell you about this before it becomes common knowledge. Official notification will go out to everyone by email later today and we’ll be scheduling staff meetings to explain what we know in more detail and to answer questions.”
“Butwhyare they suspending the promotion process, Clive? I don’t understand.”
Grace appreciated that Clive was giving her a heads-up on this completely unexpected development, but she didn’t feel like being grateful for that right now. She just wanted answers.
“It’s not just the promotion process that is being paused, Grace,” Clive said. “The business is suspending annual pay increases and imposing stricter protocols on the appointment of staff at management level. It’s also pausing all hotelinfrastructure projects that haven’t yet begun. The business is experiencing financial difficulties, I’m sorry to tell you, and the senior leadership are trying to save money wherever and however they can.”
Grace heard Clive’s words, but she didn’t understand them. None of this made any sense.
“But this hotel is almost fully booked night after night!” she said. “Look at all the functions we hold and how busy our restaurant is! How can we be in trouble?”
“Thishotel might be doing okay, Grace, and itisdoing okay. Better than okay, actually. But we’re part of a large hospitality group with a large portfolio of hotels and leisure establishments, and not every part of the business is thriving. From what I understand, the business took on several risky sites over the last few years and those risks haven’t quite paid off, and as a result, serious action is now required to correct a deteriorating balance sheet.”
“So we have to pay the price for someone else’s mistakes?” Grace said, not intending her voice to sound so shrill but helpless to prevent it.
“Come on, Grace, don’t be naïve,” Clive said gently. “You’ve studied the hospitality business long enough to know how things work. And the news I’m telling you right now could’ve been a lot worse. From what I understand, there are at least three underperforming hotels that are going to be closed down and the buildings and land sold off to developers. All three of those hotels had been underperforming because they were outdated and were about to undergo significant refurbishments to bring them up to scratch and hopefully attract customers again. But, having looked at the figures, the bosses have decided it’s better to sell those hotels off rather than invest in them. Everyone who works at those hotels will find out later today that they are about to lose their jobs. At least that isn’t happening here.”
“I feel terrible for anyone who’s about to lose their jobs, Clive. I really do,” Grace said honestly. “And I understand we’re just part of a huge corporate structure and that things happen that are completely beyond our control. But I’ve been working so hard towards this promotion. To find out that it was all for nothing…”
“It wasn’t for nothing, Grace,” Clive interrupted. “This is just a pause in the process for a year?—”
“Ayear?” Grace spluttered.
Clive held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Once the business has corrected its financial troubles and removed underperforming hotels from the balance sheet and got expenditure under better control, things will start to look much rosier for the money men at the top and they’ll release the breaks on promotions and pay increases and hiring and so on. They’ll have to, or else they’ll risk the business further because they’ll start to lose good staff to other employers, and that will cause its own headaches.”
“So you’re saying, just sit tight and wait it out?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I know how much work you’ve put into your career, Grace, and how much effort you’ve expended preparing for the opportunity to get promoted. It will all be rewarded, I promise you that. It just won’t happen as soon as we both hoped.”
