Unexpected Treasure - With TOC -Final -

by Melody Anne

  “What?” his dad asked, sounding confused.

  “David was by far underpaying the factory workers while padding the executives’ pockets. They are barely making minimum wage,” Derek said with anger. “I’m going to raise their pay and offer bonuses for high work production and early completion of projects.”

  “That’s why you’re so successful, son. You actually care about the core of the company,” his father praised him. Derek knew what it was like to barely be able to survive and didn’t like that feeling. He always treated his employees well. He had a very low turnover rate. Once people came to work for one of his corporations, they didn’t leave.

  “The bastard didn’t even offer health insurance for his factory workers. It really is no wonder he lost everything,” Derek continued to rage.

  “Well, just remember these people are scared about their jobs and don’t know you’re different. It would be a really good idea if the first thing you do is call a meeting and reassure them,” Daniel said.

  “You’re right, again. I wasn’t planning on doing that, but I’ll call a meeting first thing tomorrow. I want to spend today looking around and then eliminating some of the deadweight,” Derek told him.

  “Sounds like a plan, son,” Daniel offered as he slapped Derek on the back.

  They rode to the new office in silence. Derek was immensely satisfied to see the crew working on the new sign out front. The old one was down, and the new sign was going up with his corporate name on it. Each time he saw that, his heart skipped a beat with pride.

  He knew he had to take apart most of the corporations he bought up. He made far too much money not to split them apart. Plus, some of the companies were unfixable. He did love to keep the good ones together, though, turning them back around. He could provide so many jobs for people, and the feeling of success as he fixed them was what drove him.

  Derek walked into the building, surrounded by his best team members and his father. He knew they made an intimidating sight, and he enjoyed the looks on the staff members’ faces as they walked down the hallway.

  They approached security. That had been the first change he’d made. He always put in his own security team immediately. He didn’t want the previous owners stepping foot back in the buildings after he took them over.

  “Good morning, Mr. Titan. It’s good to see you,” the guard greeted them.

  “Hello, Tim. How are things going here?” he asked.

  “Everything has been mellow the last few days. Mr. Freeman tried to come in the day after the takeover, but he was escorted out and hasn’t been back since,” the man reported.

  “I’ve had new badges created, and no one enters without one of them. All employees who are kept will receive their badge before they leave today. There will be a lot of people let go, and I don’t need them sneaking back in and causing trouble. I also want several security personnel up on the twenty-fifth floor to escort people down as they’re let go. Today, unfortunately, isn’t going to be a pleasant one.”

  “No problem, Mr. Titan. I’ll send them up right away,” he answered.

  “Here’s your new badge and some for your men. Some workers will be in over the next few days setting up keypads for all the elevators and exits. Here’s the list of men who will be here doing the work. These men, and only these men, are allowed in. If their company tries to send over replacements call me and I’ll let you know if they’re approved or not,” he finished.

  “Okay, boss,” Tim replied, and then set to work making phone calls.

  Derek spent the first part of the morning exploring the huge building. Most of his time was spent down on the bottom floors, assessing the factory and its workers. They were eyeing him with trepidation, and he knew his father was right. He needed to speak with them soon. The work was going slow, and he noticed obvious mistakes being made. He knew a lot of that had to do with their lack of enthusiasm for underpaid work, and part of it had to do with the fact they were so unsure of their futures.

  He decided to call a meeting right away. It wasn’t the employees’ fault that the previous owner was a horrible man. Derek knew their attitudes would change, once they knew the changes he was making.

  He spoke to his men, who went in search of the foreman on each floor. It only took about thirty minutes, and he had all the factory workers assembled. He looked out at the massive crowd. There were about five hundred faces looking up at him with fear. The job market was already terrible, and all the people were in fear of joining the ranks of the unemployed.

  He stood at the make-shift podium and grabbed the microphone. “My name is Derek Titan, and I’m the new owner of this corporation. First, I want to assure you all we’re keeping this company open,” he started. He heard several people release the breaths they were holding. He also saw many in the crowd visibly relax.

  “There will be some changes made, but I think you’ll like what we have in mind. It will benefit every one of you. I’ve looked through the financial records, and you’ve been woefully underpaid and not offered any benefits. You’ll receive a ten percent wage increase, and health insurance will be provided. By the end of the day, you’ll receive paperwork showing the changes. You’ll have to go through a background check to continue working here, but you’ll see things are going to be much better,” he continued talking.

  He was now seeing smiles in the audience, and some mouths gaped open. He had to fight his own smile from spreading across his face. He needed to appear confident and in charge. He couldn’t appear to be a friend. The boss had to be respected, not necessarily liked.

  “If you work hard for me and meet production deadlines, you’ll be rewarded. I want to turn this company around into what it should be. You make quality products here, so let’s be a quality company, as well. I want investors to walk through these stations and see happy employees doing an above-quality job. The better you do, the more bonuses you’ll get. We’ll be setting up some HR representatives down here in the offices and bringing each of you in over the next few days to sign paperwork. This is a new corporation, and if you do choose to leave, we’ll offer you a severance package. If you have any questions, please wait until you’re called in so we can move things along quickly,” he finished.

  “Please return to work, and your foremen will be calling you in over the next few days. I need all the supervisors to please meet me over here,” he concluded.

  He explained what they’d be doing in more detail to the supervisors, and then made his way up to the executive offices. He saw a few secretaries who glanced wearily at him as he passed, but not a lot of other people.

  He walked up to David Freeman’s old office and sighed with delight. As he stepped through the doorway, he felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. The furniture had already been replaced. He hadn’t wanted to sit in the same seat or use the same desk as that man. He hadn’t touched the other offices, but this one would be his when he was working there, and it needed to be comfortable.

  He sat down in his chair and turned it toward the windows. The office wasn’t as nice as the one back at his main office, but it would do. He’d already had a complete overhaul done on it, so there were brand new cherry wood floors and expensive furniture. He had priceless pieces of art hung on the walls and a top-of-the-line computer system. He liked surrounding himself with the finer things in life.

  He enjoyed the view from the huge windows and his few minutes of peace before he had to continue his day. It was going to be a very long one, and he knew he’d be lucky to get out of there before midnight. People were never happy to be fired, and he had a lot of people to let go. He sighed as he turned back to the computer and started looking through files.

  ***

  The Tycoon’s Revenge is available as a free download, at all major retailers.

 

 

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