"That sounds very plausible, actually. We can keep everyone on their toes and if we have teams, we can measure that performance properly as well. This suggestion, I fully accept. The HR department, by tomorrow, I need to know who is who and how many people we have in the foundation. I think we also need a new department, the project department which will be in charge of all this. But before we get that, just give me the number. And apart from the counselors and receptionists, all of you will be participating."
When Timothy heard that, he sighed with relief. There were a lot of idlers in the foundation and it always made his heart ache. Most of the people were paid for playing with computers. So, they might as well run around and do something meaningful before expecting their wages.
After Timothy spoke his mind, others raised their hands, and another round of discussions ensued.
"For teen internships, I think we need to raise some awareness in high schools first and then discuss with the higher-ups. Let the kids register and intern during their free time."
"We can also consider the kids from juvie. Help them straighten them up if we can."
"We can consider setting up different clubs to fight against GBV and provide a safe space for the victims to open up even without meeting us in person. Create a blog, a website or an app which can’t be easily backed."
More and more solutions were being offered, and Diamond made sure to not only remember what they were saying but also the people who were eagerly participating.
The second part of the meeting fortunately took two hours. So around three, Diamond was dismissing everyone and looking forward to reasonable reports by the end of the day.
As soon as everyone left the boarding room, they all went to their respective floors where department meetings were being held.
Each department had its honor, and no department was willing to lose to another, so it was tense on several floors.
As for Diamond, after leaving the ninth floor, she went to the tenth floor where she waited for Admire and Nancy, who were being brought up by Garnet, who had waited for them downstairs earlier.
After waiting for a short while, the two people she had been waiting for finally graced her.
She offered them some beverages and snacks before they went straight for business.
"Admire, for no ....."
When it comes to HOPEGUARD FORCE, she was expecting Admire to not only guard the foundation but the grocery shop, the apartment block and also the farm. However, he would make the shifts. That would be his business.
She just wanted her current businesses to be guarded at the moment.
"I have already found a perfect place for you to settle, but it will take a while. In fact, come with me tomorrow afternoon. You can see for yourself what is needed for you and your team to start working there."
"You will also need to hire more people. I have several companies that will start operating in the first half of the year and I will need my own people to do so. So, consider that. If you need money, just tell Nancy she will know what to do."
Diamond and Admire discussed for more than an hour the shifts and what to do and what Admire wanted from her, back and forth, until they were on the same page.
When they were done, Admire excused himself and left, leaving Diamond with Nancy.
From Nancy, Diamond listened to the progress of what was going on, what she wanted, and what Diamond should expect. The two discussed for a while before Nancy asked her for a favor.
"Is she really that good?" Diamond couldn’t help but curiously after hearing what Nancy had to say.
Nancy beamed as soon as she heard that before calmly responding, "I can vouch for my life. She is good at what she does and if you take her in, I can assure you that you won’t regret it."
Diamond pondered for a bit as she recalled what Nancy had told her earlier.
Apparently, she has a lawyer friend of hers who was abroad and planning on returning home. She was good at literally everything and had dabbled in civil, criminal and financial aspects of the law.
Nancy had vouched for the other, so now Diamond was a bit interested and curious to know more about her.
With so many businesses under her, she wanted to find a trustworthy legal team that would tackle any issues for her whenever an issue arose. So, getting a multi talented lawyer like that tempted her a lot.
"I will think about it and get back to you in two days!" after some thought, Diamond gave Nancy a reply.
Nancy was relieved when she heard that. That wasn’t a rejection. There was hope for her friend, so she could now wait patiently to hear Diamond’s response.
Around five, Nancy left first, since Diamond wasn’t planning on leaving just yet.
Everyone clocked out at 5 p.m., so the staff could be seen on their way out as they talked and murmured to each other.
In Diamond’s office, Diamond was listening to Andrea as he read the reports that each department had sent before knocking off a while ago.
"Andrea, do you think that I should really hire so many people?"
{Mother, that will be the best choice. Not only will you help those who are struggling, but you will also achieve your dreams smoothly without worry.}
"I guess I can only do so. Help me draft responses to send to every foundation employee."
{Sure, mother. What’s the message?}
"There are fifty employees excluding myself, Garnet, Ruby and Nancy. If we exclude the seventeen employees from the restaurant, counseling and reception, we are down to thirty-three and that number is pretty small for such a big building."
"I want six teams by the end of this month and each team should have six people and these people would be taken from each department. The team should at least have a person from the IT department. He or she doesn’t necessarily have to be in the field but can help from the office. In fact, an I.T. person can juggle two projects at the same time to save resources."
"Another person from the public relations, legal department and field department. Each team should have people with the base knowledge ......"
There was so much she wanted to share and, with Andrea being the best assistant and son, she didn’t need to worry about overfeeding.
After narrating everything she wanted, which basically returned to having six people in each team, she finally found the message she wanted to send to everyone.
"Send to everyone that I would expect each individual except for those seventeen and the executives to be part of at least one team. The six projects we will be taking this year are GBV cases, social issues, schools’ issues, workshops, teen internships and orphanage and disaster prevention programs."
"By the end of this week, I need to see everyone who is eligible to have applied to a project. Also, the HR team should fill in the gaps. With this message, I think that they will know how many people we need to hire this year, or at least now."
{I can work with this. I will sort it out and send it as soon as I am done.}
"Thank you, Andrea, for your hard work always."
{Anything for you, mother. It’s pretty late, by the way. It’s time to go home.}
"Hehe, thanks for the reminder. I will start packing!" she chuckled softly as she stretched her arms ready to make a move.
{Um. I will be watching.}
"I know dear. I know."