Andrea never had that problem, but she also had employees intimidated by her and turnover was high. People didn’t like working for her cousin. There had to be a middle ground. But it would mean Paula had to step out of her comfort level. Could she do that? She sniffled and grabbed another tissue.

And then she called housekeeping and Maria answered.

“Can you please ask Michelle to come to my office for a moment?”

“Of course.”

Five minutes later, Michelle knocked on her door, her expression a mix of surliness and guilt.

“You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, please come in and shut the door. Have a seat.” Michelle sat in the chair across from her desk.

“Michelle, how long have you worked here?”

“About three months.”

“Do you like it here?”

“It’s okay.”

Paula looked closely at her. Michelle was in her mid-twenties and Paula doubted that she was excited about a career as a housecleaner. It was just a job.

“Listen, I know that housecleaning isn’t the most glamorous work. But it’s a good job. And this is a good place to work. There will be other growth opportunities here, depending on what you want to do. People have moved into all different areas—the ones that do a great job and are hard workers.” She was quiet for a moment and Michelle was, too.

“What happened this morning can never happen again. I’m not sure if I was clear about that earlier. Our guests expect a level of service here that wasn’t met. Can you assure me that won’t happen again? If it does, we won’t have any choice but to terminate you. We can’t take the risk of potentially losing clients because of poor service. I won’t put up with it. Do you understand?” Paula spoke quietly but firmly.

Michelle nodded. “I’m sorry. I do understand. It won’t happen again.”

“Thank you, Michelle. I appreciate that. You can go now.”

Michelle left and when Paula stood to close the door, David was just stepping out of his office. He saw Michelle walk by and then caught Paula’s eye and smiled. She ignored him, shut her door and sat back down at her desk. She was shaking. It hadn’t been easy for her to talk to Michelle like that. She hoped that her words had sunk in. She really didn’t want to have to fire anyone, but she meant what she said.

Because her grandfather had a morning meeting downtown, they held the Monday update meeting in the afternoon. A little after one, they all gathered in the conference room—Nick, Hallie, David, Paula, and her grandfather. Paula was about to start the meeting when the door flew open and her Aunt Vivian rushed in.