Case Analysis OB

Case: Why are we loosing all our good people? Brief description: The case at hand (Refer Appendix I) deals with attrition of high performing top level employees at Sambian Partners. Although the company has always prided itself as a great place to work, still the talented people are leaving which has left its CEO, Helen Gasbarian perplexed. So she asks Mary Donnilo, the head of HR to probe into the reasons behind recent exit of Tom Forsythe, Sambian’s assistant director of commercial design. However during the exit interview Tom refuses to divulge the exact details. The situation gets worse when rumours in the company start flying thick and fast and one such rumour of Adrienne Perle, another employee following Tom’s footsteps is brought to the notice of Helen by Bob Wortham, the vice president of engineering. In a desperate attempt to make Adrienne stay Helen in a jiffy decides to promote her for which she draws flak from Mary for being temperamental and unfair. After few weeks an employee survey is conducted in the company which brings to the fore people issues and grimaces that Helen thinks should suffice answering the question that-“ What really is driving people out the door?” Case Analysis: The above case is a typical example of lack of employee engagement in an organisation. Sambian Partners grapples with the below mentioned issues: •

Unclear vision and mission statement: Engaged employees invest mentally and emotionally in their work and contribute to their employer’s success. They feel a sense of pride in what their company is striving to achieve as well as a sense of empowerment that they have a role in helping to reach these goals. In this case Sambian has failed to create a mission and culture to which high performers feel connected and committed. When Tom’s pet project looses a bid, he’s disappointed because he feels a misalignment between the direction that the firm is taking and his own aspirations.

•

Weak manager-employee connect: Connection is a vital link in the employee engagement chain and the most important relationship is a strong relationship at work between employees and their immediate supervisors. In this case there is weak such relationship on the account that in case of Adrienne Perle she didn’t discuss the issues with Bob Wortham, her immediate manager.

•

Over reliance on the self conducted surveys : At Sambian there are many below the radar issues at play which cannot be gauged by the surveys conducted by the organisation. Rather than just conducting these in house surveys Sambian should also establish an open door policy so that employees know that they can talk to someone above their supervisors if they have a complaint

HBR Case Study BY EDWARD E. LAWLER III COMMENTARY BY ANNA PRINGLE, F. LEIGH BRANHAM, JIM CORNELIUS, AND JEAN MARTIN

Why Ar e We Los ing All Our Goo d Peopl e? Sambian Partners has prided itself on being a great place to work, but now talented employees are leaving. What’s going on? MA RY DONIL LO , the hea d of human resou rces at Sambia n Partner s, motione d Tom Forsythe, Sambia n’s assis tan t directo r of comme rcial design, to a com fortabl e chair in her office. It was late on a Thursday aftern oon, and the Chicago sky looked like slate. The darknes s ou tside mad e the overhea d fluo rescent lights in her office seem even mo re glarin g tha n usual. “Hey, Tom,” she said, addin g an ex- tra bit of warmt h to her voice. “I was so sorry to hea r that you’ve decided to leave. I know your min d is made up – everyone’s alread y tried to talk you out of it. But I do hope you can help us unders tand why.” She pause d and offered a rueful smile. “It’s a huge loss, but maybe we can lear n something from it.” Tom sat stiffly in his chair, one side of his face partially covered by a few strand s of dark hair that had escape d his pony tail. The lights brought out the bags under his eyes, and his five o’clock shadow looked mo re like a seven. With a newborn at hom e, he probably had n’t been getting enough slee p, Mary though t. “Well, I think you know that I wasn’t out lookin g,” Tom said. “Their headhunter came to me, and, wh at can I say? It’s an of-

fer I could n’t refus e. I mean, a directadmit partnership to J&N? It really is an opportuni ty that doesn’t come along often .” Mary could n’t help blinking at the mentio n of J&N, Sambia n’s much larger competito r. In the past year, it had seemed to step up its raids on Sambia n’s talen t pool, lurin g some very capable people over to “the dark side,” as Sambia n’s CEO, Hele n Gasbarian, liked to call it. “I’m glad for you,” Mary managed to say.“Although I wish it were anywhe re else.” “I kno w.” Mary studied Tom’s face for a momen t, wonderin g how to press for mo re. No unplanned depa rture was good news, but this one was really setting off alarm bells. Tom was at the top of his game; at 35, he’d been with Sambian nearly eight years. The compan y had been like a family to him, even afte r he got married and had child ren. He’d won a slew of design awa rds, and he was on the CEO’s sho rt list of high performer s. Ma ry could see the attractio n of a partnershi p position . But was that the whole story? At Sambian, Tom enj oyed the same kind HBR’s cases , which are fiction al, present commo n manageri al dilemmas and offer conc rete solutions from experts.

Daniel Vasconcellos

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of authori ty he would have at J&N, if not mo re. He chose his project s, set his own prioritie s. Did he know how hard it would be to earn that kind of autonomy at a new firm, pa rtner or no? “I’m sure it’s no news to you that you were coming up for promotion ,” she ven- tured. “If not this year, then maybe the next. Would it have made a difference if the raises had been bigger? For that matter, would it ma ke a difference now? I mean , the re’s no sham e in reconsidering – you really are highly respected here, you kno w.” Tom looked at his hand s. “It’s nice to hear that, Mary,” he said. “But of course I’ve already accepted. And anyw ay, it’s time to move on. I have to challenge myself, keep it fresh .” “But you’ve always managed to keep it freshe r tha n just about anyone. Are the projects themsel ves less challenging thes e days?” She avoide d the obvious question: Have you been unhappy? Tom tilte d his hea d and looked directly into Mary’s gray eyes, as if reading her thought s. “I’ve been very happy he re,” he said. “The people are great. I’m not runnin g away from anythin g. It’s just that a fantasti c opportuni ty came along at a good time.” Mary kept probin g, asking all the standa rd question s, but Tom demur red, me rely repe ating wh at he’d already told her. By the time the inte rview had ended and she’d seen him to the door, she felt defl ated. After leaving her office, Tom headed into the back stairwell , pulle d out his cell phon e, and speed -dialed his wife. “Alyson? Hey. Yeah. You’ll be proud of me – I kept my mouth shut. I mean, you’re right about not burning bridge s, but who cares at this poin t? This place can be as screwed up as it want s. It’s not my problem anymo re.”

An Unhap py Memo Early the next mornin g, Mary tapped on Hele n Gasbaria n’s door. She found Hele n starin g at her compute r screen, frownin g. The re was nothin g Helen hated mo re tha n losing staff to J&N,

and it showe d plainl y on her face. “Workin g on the memo?” Mary asked gentl y. Helen nodded .“Not much

hb r.or g Offer yo ur advice on this case at LosingGood People.hbr.org.

fun. I was just going to send it to you so you could look it over. How’d the exit interview go?” Mary confesse d that Tom had n’t revealed much. “He didn’t want to get specific about why the grass is greener the re or tell me about anythin g that made him unhappy here.” When Hele n’s fathe r, Peter Gasbarian, had founde d Sambian , in 1975, it was sup pose d to be the antithesi s of a be- hemoth like J&N. His idea was to build a top-notc h architectu re and enginee r- ing firm by making appealing offers to

Francis co, New York, and London. Hele n looked ha rd at Mary. She wished she could put the blam e for losing Tom

on her – or on someon e, anyone – but she could n’t. “You know, ever since Dad founde d this compan y, we’ve tried to ma ke it a great place to work,” she said, sighing. “And I thin k we treat people really well. Whe re are we going wrong?” “I don’t know, honestl y,” Mary replied carefull y, hearing the bewilderment in Hele n’s voice. “But I want to be careful about not readin g too muc h into thi s. Obviousl y, we need to get to the bottom of it, but it might turn out that it’s not a trend, just a nasty coinciden ce. People leave jobs for all kinds of reason s.”

There wa s nothing Helen hated more than losing staff to her firm’s much larger comp etitor. Hele n ponde red the poin t. “Well, young talen t. Rathe r tha n spen d years as anonymous “leverage” to fat-cat th at’s tru e enough : P at Doughe rty part- ners, young peopl e at Sambia n moved to Irelan d ‘for family reason s.’ could start makin g thei r mar k Irena Milkovic decided to go solo – I’m immedi ately on inte resting project s. It still trying to figure that one out. And was no coinci- den ce that he had now Tom, to a partnership at a big trastopped mulling this idea over and ditional firm.” She shook her head. “But turned it into reali ty after his only child the fact remains that it is a trend. I want announ ced she was appl y- ing to to know wh at we nee d to do to keep architectu re school. the rest!” It was also no surpris e whe n Helen “I have a few theorie s, Helen ,” Ma ry took the reins followin g her father ’s said, as soothingl y as possibl e. “But to death, in 1997. By the n an award-winning see whethe r the re’s anythin g to them, architect in her own right, she made it I’d like to move this year’s empl oyee surher missio n to inc reas e colla boration vey up on the schedul e. I think we need among the firm’s cutting -edge designer s, to get some new data in front of us.” engineer s, and client account manager s. Helen turned back to the compute r. As a resul t, inn ovation had flourished “Yes, do the survey,” she said. “Do it as in gene ral – and, in particula r, the firm soon as you possibly can.” had been in the vangua rd of the “green building” movemen t. By the time othe r, Th e Word on the Street larger firms were just startin g their Designer Hal Pope and engineer Savangreen practi ce group s, Sambian had al- nah Dorsey were two floors down in ready designed dozens of LEED-certified Sambia n’s large kitchen , heating up their building s. Riding the growth wave, the lunche s in the microwaves. They were compan y had opene d offices in San

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both subdued , havin g read the memo bearing the news of Tom’s depa rture. “Tom sort of chec ked out whe n we lost that Mar ko bid,” Savannah ventu red. “He really wanted to see that design get built. It was gorgeou s, with all that light and air. And anyone could see that the price was righ t.” Hal agreed.“The design could n’t have been better.” He lowe red his voice a little. “If only Paul Bonn ey had been able to point that out.” Paul Bonn ey was the hea d of architectu re sales. Savanna h stared at Hal. “You thought so, too,” she said. “His pitch sounded so, well, uninspi red.”

be as simple as that. Two kids now. He’ll be wor rying about college fund s.” Savannah jumped back into the convers ation . “True, but you’d thin k he’d also be worried about quali ty of life. I guess Alyson must have decided not to go back to work. They’ll have him on the road cons tantl y.”

This Is No t a Drill A mont h later, Hele n was scannin g a staff utiliz ation report whe n the phone rang. The phon e’s display showed that the call was comin g from Bob Wortham , the vice presiden t of engineerin g. Throug h the ope n door, Hele n saw her

“We really value you around here, and I want you to be happy. I don’t want you to even think about leaving.” Adrienn e Perl e, anothe r colleague from engineerin g, could n’t help overhearin g as she reache d past the m for some utensil s. “He’s uninspi red,” Adrienn e said. “And he’s not the only one. It’s really a pity when you have someone doing incredibl y creative work, and the sup port structu re isn’t the re to let it see the light of day. All the salespeopl e focus on is cutting the deal. If you ask me, that’s why Tom is leaving. He’s a firstclass architec t, but if he doesn’t have first-class sales and mar ketin g behind him, he’s no one. He’s the tree falling in the forest. I’ve tried tellin g peopl e upstairs that we’re veerin g off base. But nobody’s listenin g.” Hal shook his head . “I don’t kno w, guys. Tom had plen ty of wins. Mo re work than he could handl e. I just think he looked above him and realize d he was going nowhe re fast. No one on the executi ve team is even close to retirin g, and the org cha rt is top-he avy as it is. Whe re’s the career path?” Adrienn e pulle d a sour face, indi cating agreemen t. “I wonde r how much he’ll ma ke as a pa rtner at J&N? It could

rumo r about Adrienn e, Mary felt the blood start to drain from her face. “It’ll be a real problem if we lose Adrienn e,” Bob said. “Sh e’s in the thick of a huge projec t, and the clien t loves her.” He gave Mary a hard look as they passed Jessie’s desk. “Wh at’s going on here, anyway? It’s like our talent is being sucked out by vampi res.” Hearin g the m ente r, Hele n turned away from the windo w. “OK, Bob,” she said. “Wh at exactly is this rumo r?” “Peopl e are picking up a vibe that she might follow Tom to J&N,” Bob began, pulling the door shut. “The two of them were kind of on a wavelength. It would n’t surpris e me if he wante d to find a home for her the re.” Helen shot a look at Mary. “No noncompete?” Presumabl y, Tom had signed the standa rd cont ract preventin g him from taking talent or clients with him to the competition. “Oh, sure,” Mary replied. “Tough to enforce, though ,” she added, immedi ately

assis tant, Jessie, move to pick it up at her wishing she had n’t. own desk. “Oh, I’ll find a way,” Helen spat. “I’ve got it, Jess,” she said, lifting the “Even if I can’t win, I can ma ke life receiver. “Hi, Bob. What’s up?” tough for him .” “I might need your help on somethin g. Mary and Bob exchange d glan ces. I’m afraid we’re at risk of losing AdriHelen turned to Bob, on the offensi ve enn e. It’s just a rumor so far, but I want now. “So you’re telling me we should n’t to jump on the situ ation .” be surprised , but I’m also getting the Hele n grima ced. “Adrienne ? You’re sense that you haven’t done anything in right – we don’t want to lose her. Why anticip ation of this.” She could n’t resist don’t you come up now?” adding a swipe at Mary. “And why are you waiting a round for the satisfaction Hanging up, Helen called out to Jessie. “Can you see if Mary is free? If she survey results before taking any action?” Mary opene d her mout h as if to objec t, can ma ke time right now, that would be great.” but Helen waved her hand imp atientl y. She stood up, wal ked over to the win- “OK, look,” she said. “I’ll talk to her. Let me see wh at I can do.” She wal ked to the dow, and pressed her forehead against the cool glass. On the plaza below, a few door and opened it. late luncher s cluste red aroun d a ven“Jess, call Adrienn e Perle and ask if dor’s stainless -steel cart. She closed her she’s availabl e. I want to see her as soon eyes. Another loss for Bob, she though t. as possibl e.” Was he part of the problem? She shook her head , refusin g to pursu e that line Oh , Won’t You Stay? of though t. The best way to dec rease Ten minute s later, Adrienn e appea red attrition surely could n’t be to fire loyal in Hele n’s doorway. Her he avy-framed empl oyees. designer glasses made it a little difficult In the hallw ay outside Hele n’s office, to read the expression on her face, but Bob ran into Mary. As he relayed the her body languag e signale d anxie ty. It

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wasn’t every day she was summoned to the CEO’s office. A few moment s of small talk prolonge d the awkwa rdnes s, but Helen got to the point as quickly as possibl e. “Adrienn e, I’ve hea rd an alarmin g rumor – that you migh t be considering a job elsewhe re. I certainl y hop e this isn’t tru e.” Adrienne looked down at the coffee table and then around the room as if to see who migh t have spilled the bean s. “Rumor s spread fast aroun d here,” she said finall y. “I want you to tell me the truth – in total confiden ce, no repe rcussion s,” Helen said pleadingl y. She paused for effect.“Is Tom Forsythe talking to you?” Adrienn e’s eyes widened slightly, and her answer seemed, to Helen, a little too quick. “Tom has nothing to do with thi s,” she said. “I mean, it’s true that I talk to him. We’ve known each other for a long time – since I got here, five years ago. He’s probably the closest thing I’ve had to a mento r. And I guess I do feel a little lost now that he’s gon e.” “Well, my job is to ma ke sure that you don’t feel lost. We really value you around here, and I wan t you to be happ y. I don’t want you to even think about leaving.” She paused .“Is it possibl e that Bob could play mo re of that mentorin g role?” With an uncomfortabl e shru g, Adrienn e bega n formul ating a carefu l respons e. “Well, it’s not so much , um…” Her voice trailed away. Hele n let her off the hook. “Well, let’s figure out how we can fill that void.” It was clear that Adrienn e wasn’t being totall y forthcomin g but impossibl e to know how muc h she was withholdin g. Of cours e, she would know better than

Hele n had know n that the suddenness of her executi ve decision would not sit well with Mary, but the intensi ty of Mary’s reaction surprised her. She had, after all, succeeded in keeping Adrienne on board. “Despe rate times call for desperate measu res,” Helen offered in her own defens e. “But that’s just it,” Mary cried. “It will look like an act of despe ration to anyone who hea rd the rumo r. And worse than that, it isn’t fair. If that job is availabl e, the re are other people who should get a crack at it. It’s not right that they should effecti vely be penalize d becaus e they were the loyal ones. Wh at kind of signal does that send?” “I’ll tell you wh at signal I thin k it sends. It tells people that we aren’t so const rained by HR procedu res th at we can’t ma ke exception s for fast-rising talen t. That’s a positi ve messag e. And as for Adrienn e, don’t worry about he r. Everyone loves her. She’ll step up to the plate.” Mary shook her head. “It’s not a question of populari ty or attitud e. She’s missing some of the competencies…” “Well, aren’t we all! ”Hele n interrupted. “Sometimes I think we focus too much on the things that aren’t quite perfect. If Adrienne were on the outside and sent us her résum é, we’d say she was perfect for this job. Tell me that’s not tru e.”

to say that Tom was recruitin g her, even

Hele n an d hande d over a copy of a

if he was. Recallin g Bob’s not e of despe ration earlie r, Helen made a decision. “In fact, maybe you would let me play a little of that role myself. I’m promotin g you.”

cha rt-saturated report. “I’ll give you the big pictu re first. Overall, peopl e at Sambia n are quit e satisfie d with just about every aspec t of thei r empl oyment experien ce.” Helen groaned. “I know, I know,” Mary continued ,“but once you get into the detail s, the re are some nuan ces.” She offered a few ex-

Whi ch Is Worse? “Helen , you can’t do that! Adrienn e’s only a level-six empl oyee – she’ll drown in that position .”

Th e Voi ce of the Peop le A few weeks after the tense encounters over Adrienn e, Mary tappe d again at Hele n’s door. “Survey result s tim e,” Mary called out in a singson g voice, glad that she and Hele n were back on a happ y footing. She sat down across the desk from

amples of depa rtments whose results diverged from the average s. And, as always, the open -ende d question s had yielded food for though t. Commentin g anon ymously on their survey forms, a few employees had complaine d of too much deadw ood in the project manager rank s. One staffer referred to “certain prima donnas” who cared mo re about winning awa rds than staying on budge t. The administ rative staff was, for the most part, neut ral. Some resented the evening and wee kend hour s they spen t when , as one phrased it, “someone higher up the chai n procrastin ated .” The perks we re good. The perks were bad. The perks were skewed to the younger empl oyees. The younger empl oyees didn’t feel valued enough. Helen listened for 20 minute s, saying little but shakin g her hea d frequentl y. Then, whe n Mary was in the middle of reading a comment a bout the snack and beverage choices in the kitchen, she interrupted. “Oh, that one was min e,” she joked. Mary played alon g.“I thought so. And don’t worry, I’m on the case.” But she knew the boss had hea rd enough for the momen t. Closing the report cover, she leane d back in her chai r.“I know it’s hard to sepa rate the signal from the noise here, but at least it gives me some mo re ideas about wh at to probe for when I’m talking to people one-onone.” “And that migh t be enough ,” Helen said, “if only they would give us straight answer s.” How can Sambian discov er what’s really driving pe opl e out the doo r?

Edward E. Lawler II I (elawler@marshall.

usc.edu) is the Distinguished Professor of Business at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and the founder and director of the university’s Center for Effective Organizations. His latest book is Talen t: Making People Your Competiti ve Advantage (Jossey-Bass, 2008).