The owners of our company decided to renovate the building that most of us worked in. We are in manufacturing, so there is a plant there too. We are a smaller company and the original plan was to spend $7M on the renovation. That seemed like a lot of money at the time, but the owners told us the facility was going to be beautiful.
The majority owner decided to put our Vice President in charge of the project. Unfortunately, the Vice President had ideas of his own. The $7M cost soon ballooned up to $16M. Of course the owners ultimately had to approve the financials, but approval occurred only due to the sweet-talking of the Vice President. He convinced them the bigger facility and more expensive (top-of-the-line) equipment was needed. ‘We have to have it,’ he said. He made bold and ridiculously aggressive predictions on future sales, which have never happened. He sold the bosses on it and they bought it hook, line and sinker.
Fast forward a few years and now our company is really struggling. No raises have been given out in years. The pension plan was frozen. Layoffs occurred. There is a hiring freeze. The owners had to make personal guarantees that the loans would be repaid to the bank. And sales are in the toilet.
But the Vice President walks around like the King of the World and is proud of his new building. Why he hasn’t been relieved of duties is beyond me.
Submitted by Anonymous