Some interesting thoughts - many do hit home.  Thought that I would pass this along so that we can discuss it when we get together for lunch tomorrow.  --Sally 

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Superty, Robert  
Sent:	Tuesday, October  30, 2001 12:21 PM
To:	Beck, Sally; Hall, Bob M
Subject:	Employee retention

Sally, Bob - just a thought about where we currently are and how we help maintain solid leadership for the future. As I looked around the room at your breakfast meeting today it appeared many of the people in important management roles were probably at an age where they would like to stay at Enron, work hard and hopefully be able to take care of immediate family needs (college, etc.) and then retire with a enough to enjoy their elder years. Others were probably at an age where career changes are in their plans so it's the quick hits that will make a difference. Maybe the mix was 50/50. Clearly I'm in the former category. Several people at the meeting commented about the severe impact the current situation has had on their retirement plans and how the time left to make this up is a concern. In my relatively short time here (3 1/4 years) I have made the following observation. Enron has a great Associate and Analyst program and these employees contribute immediately to the company. In addition Enron has a very young and mobile workforce that provides great flexibility and energy to our efforts. No doubt this has led to the great success over the years. However at the end of the day the business requires a level of maturity and experience that very effectively complements this young and very talented workforce. Helps pull things together and keep the sanity. In many cases this translates to employees in their mid to later years of their work life. During the good times no problem as bonus $'s and other vehicles take care of things. However we are possibly in a situation where those are limited or reduced to some extent for some extended period of time.  

Question: Do we need to do something positive, send a signal, to our middle aged and more senior employees that we understand the importance and value you add to the company and are willing to take a look at our pension/retirement plans. When we come out of this current situation what will the company look like? Will most of the younger crowd leave for the "quick hits" elsewhere? How do we maintain and protect our more senior employees. How do we keep them here before they take another job that offers them additional security? Listening to Ken Lay at the employee meeting when asked a question about pension I don't believe he really knew what type of retirement program we have in place. It really is, save all you can in your 401K and then we'll give you this cash balance vehicle to subsidize it. I know the cash balance option is a newer vehicle that many companies are moving to but Enron's is rather weak. Many companies apply a larger percentage than Enron's 5%. Obviously this all has a cost, I know these plans were carefully considered over the years and changing anything at this point is not going to happen. In addtition this probably goes against our culture in many respects and I'm not saying lets make this a job for life. We still need to manage our workforce as we have in the past and deal with employees that do not contribute regardless of age. 

Just wanted to share some honest thoughts and observations. I get concerned when I look at the makeup of our workforce and think about commitment, loyalty and ongoing leadership. I promise this isn't about me although I certainly have my concerns as I know you do also.  

Thanks for listening - Bob