The Lone Anomaly

CHAPTER 6

​Nakaupo kami nina Greg at Macy sa loob ng conference room. Inaasahan ni Macy ang isang alignment discussion tungkol sa project, ngunit hindi iyon ang nangyari

​Suot ang kanyang pormal na suit, nagsimulang magtanong si Greg habang hawak ang isang simpleng notebook. Calm, precise, at may icy authority ang kanyang boses

​"Macy, what is the total employee population of Vance Group as of this quarter?" tanong ni Greg

​Napatitig si Macy sa kanya. Halatang bahagyang nagulat sa direktang tanong, ngunit mabilis na sumagot. "Around 3,000 employees across all local sites,"

​"And the structural breakdown of departments?"

​"Operations, Engineering, Procurement, Finance, Logistics, HR, Communications, Legal, and IT," sagot ni Macy

​"What is HR's mechanism to capture employee grievances?" patuloy ni Greg

​"We conduct annual Employee Engagement surveys," tugon ni Macy

​"And the top grievances based on your records?"

​Binuksan ni Macy ang kanyang laptop

"The top issues are mostly work-life balance, onsite work arrangements, and competitive compensation. This is the exact summary we presented to the external auditors last month," sabay pakita nya ng PDF summary sa meeting room TV screen

​"I see," dahan-dahang tango ni Greg. "And what is the standard process for employee exit?"

​"The employee submits a resignation letter, the direct manager approves it, they go through clearance processing which includes the HR exit interview and then final release,"

​"And the top reasons for attrition?"

​"Career growth and personal reasons. It’s all in the auditor-approved report," pilit na ngiti ni Macy

​Napatango si Greg sabay sara ng kanyang notebook

"Thank you, Macy. That gives us a good baseline,"

​Nakatitig lang ako kay Greg. Hindi ko mapigilang mamangha sa paraan ng pagtatanong nya. Walang palabok, walang emosyon, ngunit bawat tanong ay parang may ibig sabihin

​Pilit na ngumiti si Macy, kahit halatang may bahagyang kaba sa kanyang mga mata

"By the way, Greg... Global Mobility just finalized your expat transport package. You can proceed to our accredited car dealer today to pick out your vehicle for processing,"

​"Thank you, Macy," magalang na sagot ni Greg

​Nang makalabas si Macy, binalingan ako ni Greg na para bang walang nangyari

​"Do you mind joining me to get a car? If you're available, Boss,"

​Nanlaki ang mga mata ko. "Huh? Me?"

​"You live here, Sienna. You know the roads better," kaswal nyang sabi

​Sinuri ko ang aking iPad. Walang urgent deliverables o meetings ngayong umaga, kaya napatango ako

"Alright. Let's go,"

​Pumunta kami sa showroom ng accredited dealer. Tinulungan ko si Greg na pumili ng isang maayos, praktikal, at eleganteng midsize SUV na bagay na bagay sa kanyang tindig at edad

​Pagkatapos mailabas ang sasakyan, nag takeout kami ng pagkain at pumarada sa isang tahimik na park malapit sa Central Business District para mag lunch

​Habang kumakain kami sa isang bench, hindi ako mapakali. Kanina pa ako patagong tumitingin sa oras sa celphone ko

​"Greg... we've been out for almost three hours," sita ko sa kanya

"Marami tayong kailangang gawin sa opisina. Why are we having a picnic in the middle of a workday?!"

​Natawa nang malakas si Greg habang umiinom ng kape. "Relax, Sienna. You're constantly on edge,"

​"Because this is a corporate investigation!" apela ko. "Hindi tayo nagbabakasyon!"

​Ibinaba ni Greg ang kanyang coffee cup at seryoso akong tinitigan

"Sienna, you still don't grasp the full extent of this mission. An investigation isn't done by staring at a computer screen all day. It requires observation. Timing,"

​"I am a Communications Specialist, Greg, not a detective!" defensive kong sagot

​Mabilis syang umagapay. "Then why did you agree to take this assignment under James?"

​Napatigil ako. Hindi ako nakasagot

​Tinitigan ako ni Greg nang may pag unawa

"Because you care about this company. But to protect it, you need to stop viewing it through rose-colored glasses. You're too loyal to James, and it makes you blind to what's happening around you,"

​Bumalik kami sa opisina bago mag alas dos ng hapon

​"Have you talked to Macy about the requested data?" tanong ni Greg habang naglalakad kami sa hallway

​"Not yet, but Macy already gave us the auditor summaries earlier," sagot ko

​"Don't get the raw data from Macy," pabulong ngunit pinal nyang utos

​Napatigil ako. "What? Why?"

​"Macy gave us the sanitized version," paliwanag ni Greg. "We need the actual exit interview forms and raw survey logs before HR parsed them,"

​"But Greg, that's thousands of physical and digital records... how are we going to gather that without Macy knowing?"

​"Set up a discussion with the HRIS team," sagot nya

​Pagpasok namin sa HRIS office, nadatnan namin si Rhea, ang HR Specialist na tumili ng "Mahal kita!" kahapon

​"Hi Sir Greg! Hi Ma'am Sienna!" masayang bati ni Rhea, agad na nag aayos ng kanyang buhok

​Lumapit si Greg sa counter. Sumandal sya roon, inalis ang kanyang glasses, at dahan dahang ngumiti kay Rhea. His deep baritone voice was smooth and dangerously charming

​"Good afternoon Rhea," malambing nyang bati. "We need a little help from someone as efficient as you,"

​Halos matunaw si Rhea sa kinatatayuan niya habang namumula ang mga pisngi!

​"N-Naku, Sir Greg! Ano po 'yon? Kahit ano po!" kinikilig nyang sagot

​Hindi ko napigilan ang rolling eyes ko! Nakatikom ang mga bibig ko habang nakatitig kay Greg. Aba, fini flirt pa ang HRIS! Napakapresko talaga ng AFAM na 'to!

​"We need the physical retention boxes and digital raw logs of exit interviews for the past three years," masuyong hiling ni Greg

​"Ahm..." napatigil si Rhea, pilit na kumakalas sa karisma ni Greg. "Kasi Sir... confidential records po 'yon sa Retention Room. Kailangan po ng approval ni HRIS Manager at ni Ma'am Macy..."

"Is that so?"

"Yes po, Sir Greg...sorry po," nahihiyang sagot ni Rhea

"No worries. It's nice seeing you again, Rhea," ngumiti si Greg at magaang tinapik ang balikat ni Rhea

"Just let me know how I can help, Sir Greg!" magiliw na tugon ni Rhea

​Bumuntong-hininga ako sa inis ‐ hindi lang dahil sa kailangan ng approval, kundi dahil sa labis na closeness ni Greg kay Rhea!​Kinausap ko ang HRIS Manager, ngunit hesitant ito. "I'll route the request to Ma'am Macy first, Sienna," malamig nitong sabi

​Lumipas ang hapon. Alas kwatro na ngunit wala pa ring natataggap na feedback mula kay Macy. Halatang binabagalan ng HR ang request

​Dahil sa matinding inis at pagmamadali, dumiretso ako sa executive suite ng CEO

​"James," bungad ko nang makapasok sa opisina ni James

​Tumingala si James mula sa kanyang laptop

"Sienna? Is there a problem?"

​"Regarding the 'Employee Engagement Review'," panimula ko gamit ang aking pinakapormal na PR tone. "The high level numbers from Macy are great, but Greg and I need the qualitative context ‐ the actual raw exit feedback ‐ to help with the investigation. HRIS is holding back the files waiting for clearance. Can you sign off on this?"

​Ngumiti si James. "Of course, Sienna. I trust your methodology." Agad siyang nagtype ng approval email sa HRIS at Macy

​Wala nang nagawa si Macy

​Bago mag alas singko, si Rhea pa mismo ang nagkandarapa sa pagtulak ng cart ng mga kulay brown na kahon patungo sa opisina ko, para lang makasama ulit si Greg

​

Alas sais na ng gabi. ​Tahimik na ang buong floor. Nakatambak sa malaking mesa ko ang napakaraming folder, physical exit interview forms, at mga thumb drive ng raw survey databases

​Napahawak ako sa ulo ko

"Greg... there are hundreds of forms here! Anong gagawin natin sa napakaraming data na 'to?! How are we supposed to analyze this manually?!"

​Dahan dahang tumayo si Greg mula sa kanyang upuan. Lumapit sya sa likod ng aking executive chair at itinuon ang dalawa niyang palad sa gilid ng mesa. Pinapalibutan ako ng kanyang malapad na bulto at ng amoy ng kanyang panlalaking pabango

​Napatigil ako sa paghinga

​"Sienna," pabulong nyang sabi malapit sa tainga ko, his voice low and grounding. "In an investigation, noise is just data waiting to be filtered. You don't read every single line. You look for patterns. Spikes in resignations... recurring manager names... specific operational sites,"

​Bahagya syang yumuko para pantayan ang paningin ko. Sumilay ang isang pilyong ngiti sa kanyang mga labi

​"And stop glaring at me like that," bulong nya. "I only used my charms on Rhea because I knew my Manager was too principled to break the rules for me,"

​Nag init nang husto ang magkabilang pisngi ko! Nahalata ba nyang naiinis ako?!

​Umayos ako ng upo at pilit na tumingin sa mga papel para itago ang pamumula ng leeg ko

​"A-Anyway!" mabilis kong pag iiba ng usapan habang mabilis ang t***k ng puso

"If we want to cross-reference these actual documents into patterns... we can't do this manually,"

​Kumunot ang noo ni Greg. "Do you have someone we can trust?"

​Biglang may kumislap na ideya sa utak ko. Isang malaking ngiti ang sumilay sa mga labi ko

​"I know someone in IT Infrastructure," sabi ko habang kinukuha ang telepono ko. "He's a close friend of mine at kaya nyang mag run ng custom data script para mai-match ang employee information, dates at actual feedback nang off-the-record,"

​Tumingin si Greg sa akin, halatang impressed sa bilis ng isip ko

"Now that is what I call good management, Boss"