It had been on my mind for a whole week now, the yearly performance review. Just a few days more and then Beth would be here in my office, and I had to tell her she wouldn't get the bonus she'd been after all year now. We had discussed her performance in our management team. It had been a little flat, we had noted. Her customer contact numbers had stabilized, after years of growth. And customer satisfaction reviews had dropped a little. I did not see this coming. Beth had always been so committed, taking her responsibilities seriously, putting in a real effort for our customers. She was my favorite, and in a moment of optimistic enthusiasm I promised her a nice bonus. I just assumed she would keep up the good work. But she didn't. I just didn't understand.
When I extended the invitation for the review, I gave Beth a little heads-up. I told her we had to discuss her bonus as questions were raised about her performance. Her reaction puzzled me. She mailed me a short message saying she understood, that she would explain and make sure I was totally satisfied.
On the morning of the interview, I was in my office early, answering mail from our offices in Asia that had stuffed my inbox during the night. I liked to get that out of the way before the day in London would start. Beth was my first appointment of the day.
It was almost 9 o'clock when a knock on my door interrupted my concentration. Beth put her head through the door.
"Can I come in?" she asked. Not waiting for an answer, she pushed the door open and stepped into my office. She closed the door behind her and proceeded towards my desk. She pulled up a chair and sat down.
"Hi, Diana, what's up?" she started in an upbeat manner. I was a bit lost for words. The Beth that had entered, was not the person I had expected to walk into my office this morning. Not the usual hoody, trousers and sneakers, or the ponytail in her long brown hair. The woman in front of me was more like the women I met now and then in the clubs I frequented. Beth was dressed in a deep cut blouse, showing a lot of cleavage. Her skirt was very short. Her heels very high.
"Beth," I stammered, "ehhhm, I didn't expect to see you like this for our interview."
"Like what?" Beth asked.
I hesitated. It was not done to make all kinds of remarks about the way our co-workers dressed in the office. But this was so surprising.
"Well," I started, "you look more dressed up for a night out than for a performance review. Don't get me wrong, I think you look very nice. This is just not what I was expecting."
Beth started to laugh. "Would you believe that I have dressed like this especially for you, Diana?"
