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 hu- fer I could n’t refus e. I mean, a direct-
man resou rces at Sambia n Partner s, admit partnership to J&N? It really
motione d Tom Forsythe, Sambia n’s is an opportuni ty that doesn’t come
assis tan t directo r of comme rcial along often .”
design, to a com fortabl e chair in Mary could n’t help blinking at the
her office. It was late on a Thurs- mentio n of J&N, Sambia n’s much
day aftern oon, and the Chicago sky larger competito r. In the past year,
looked like slate. The darknes s ou t- it had seemed to step up its raids on
side mad e the overhea d fluo rescent Sambia n’s talen t pool, lurin g some
lights in her office seem even mo re very capable people over to “the dark
glarin g tha n usual. side,” as Sambia n’s CEO, Hele n Gas-
“Hey, Tom,” she said, addin g an barian, liked to call it. “I’m glad for
ex- tra bit of warmt h to her voice. “I you,” Mary managed to say.“Although
was so sorry to hea r that you’ve I wish it were anywhe re else.”
decided to leave. I know your min d “I kno w.”
is made up – everyone’s alread y tried Mary studied Tom’s face for a mo-
to talk you out of it. But I do hope men t, wonderin g how to press for
you can mo re. No unplanned depa rture was good news, but this one
help us unders tand why.” She pause d and offered a rueful was really setting off alarm bells. Tom was at the top of his
smile. “It’s a huge loss, but maybe we can lear n something game; at 35, he’d been with Sambian nearly eight years. The
from it.” compan y had been like a family to him, even afte r he got
Tom sat stiffly in his chair, one side of his face partially married and had child ren. He’d won a slew of design awa rds,
covered by a few strand s of dark hair that had escape d his and he was on the CEO’s sho rt list of high performer s. Ma ry
pony tail. The lights brought out the bags under his eyes, and could see the attractio n of a partnershi p position . But was
his five o’clock shadow looked mo re like a seven. With a new- that the whole story? At Sambian, Tom enj oyed the same kind
born at hom e, he probably had n’t been getting enough slee p,
Mary though t. HBR’s cases , which are fiction al, present commo n manageri al
“Well, I think you know that I wasn’t out lookin g,” Tom dilemmas and offer conc rete solutions from experts.
said.
“Their headhunter came to me, and, wh at can I say? It’s an of-
 hbr.org | Jun e 2008 | Harvard Business Review 41
Daniel Vasconcellos
HBR Cas e S t u d y Why Are We Losing All Our Goo d People?

hb r.or g
of authori ty he would have at J&N, if and it showe d plainl y on Francis co, New York, and
Offer yo ur advice
not mo re. He chose his project s, set his her face. on this case at London.
own prioritie s. Did he know how hard it “Workin g on the memo?” LosingGood Hele n looked ha rd at
would be to earn that kind of autonomy Mary asked gentl y. People.hbr.org.
Mary. She wished she could
at a new firm, pa rtner or no? Helen nodded .“Not much put the blam e for losing Tom
“I’m sure it’s no news to you that you fun. I was just going to send it to you so on her – or on someon e, anyone – but
were coming up for promotion ,” she you could look it over. How’d the exit she could n’t. “You know, ever since Dad
ven- tured. “If not this year, then interview go?” founde d this compan y, we’ve tried to
maybe the next. Would it have made a Mary confesse d that Tom had n’t re- ma ke it a great place to work,” she said,
difference if the raises had been bigger? vealed much. “He didn’t want to get spe- sighing. “And I thin k we treat people
For that matter, would it ma ke a cific about why the grass is greener the re really well. Whe re are we going wrong?”
difference now? or tell me about anythin g that made “I don’t know, honestl y,” Mary replied
I mean , the re’s no sham e in reconsid- him unhappy here.” carefull y, hearing the bewilderment in
ering – you really are highly respected When Hele n’s fathe r, Peter Hele n’s voice. “But I want to be careful
here, you kno w.” Gasbarian, had founde d Sambian , in about not readin g too muc h into thi s.
Tom looked at his hand s. “It’s nice to 1975, it was sup pose d to be the Obviousl y, we need to get to the bottom
hear that, Mary,” he said. “But of course antithesi s of a be- hemoth like J&N. His of it, but it might turn out that it’s not a
I’ve already accepted. And anyw ay, it’s idea was to build a top-notc h trend, just a nasty coinciden ce. People
time to move on. I have to challenge my- architectu re and enginee r- ing firm by leave jobs for all kinds of reason s.”
self, keep it fresh .” making appealing offers to
“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
There wa s nothing Helen hated more
question: Have you been unhappy?
Tom tilte d his hea d and looked di-
than losing staff to her firm’s
rectly into Mary’s gray eyes, as if read-
ing her thought s. “I’ve been very happy
much larger comp etitor.
he re,” he said. “The people are great.
I’m
not runnin g away from anythin g. It’s young talen t. Rathe r tha n spen d years Hele n ponde red the poin t. “Well,
just that a fantasti c opportuni ty came as anonymous “leverage” to fat-cat th at’s tru e enough : P at Doughe rty
along at a good time.” part- ners, young peopl e at Sambia n moved to Irelan d ‘for family reason s.’
Mary kept probin g, asking all the could start makin g thei r mar k Irena Milkovic decided to go solo – I’m
standa rd question s, but Tom demur red, immedi ately on inte resting project s. It still trying to figure that one out. And
me rely repe ating wh at he’d already was no coinci- den ce that he had now Tom, to a partnership at a big tra-
told her. By the time the inte rview had stopped mulling this idea over and ditional firm.” She shook her head. “But
ended and she’d seen him to the door, turned it into reali ty after his only child the fact remains that it is a trend. I want
she felt defl ated. announ ced she was appl y- ing to to know wh at we nee d to do to keep
After leaving her office, Tom headed architectu re school. the rest!”
into the back stairwell , pulle d out his It was also no surpris e whe n Helen “I have a few theorie s, Helen ,” Ma ry
cell phon e, and speed -dialed his wife. took the reins followin g her father ’s said, as soothingl y as possibl e. “But to
“Alyson? Hey. Yeah. You’ll be proud death, in 1997. By the n an award-winning see whethe r the re’s anythin g to them,
of me – I kept my mouth shut. I mean, architect in her own right, she made it I’d like to move this year’s empl oyee sur-
you’re right about not burning bridge s, her missio n to inc reas e colla boration vey up on the schedul e. I think we need
but who cares at this poin t? This place among the firm’s cutting -edge designer s, to get some new data in front of us.”
can be as screwed up as it want s. It’s not engineer s, and client account manager s. Helen turned back to the compute r.
my problem anymo re.” 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.”
An Unhap py Memo had been in the vangua rd of the “green
Early the next mornin g, Mary tapped building” movemen t. By the time othe r, Th e Word on the Street
on Hele n Gasbaria n’s door. She found larger firms were just startin g their Designer Hal Pope and engineer Savan-
Hele n starin g at her compute r screen, green practi ce group s, Sambian had al- nah Dorsey were two floors down in
frownin g. The re was nothin g Helen ready designed dozens of LEED-certified Sambia n’s large kitchen , heating up their
hated mo re tha n losing staff to J&N, building s. Riding the growth wave, the lunche s in the microwaves. They were
compan y had opene d offices in San
42 Harvard Business Review | Jun e 2008 | hbr.org
hbr.org | Jun e 2008 | Harvard Business Review 43
HBR Cas e S t u d y Why Are We Losing All Our Goo d People?

both subdued , havin g read the memo be as simple as that. Two kids now. He’ll rumo r about Adrienn e, Mary felt the
bearing the news of Tom’s depa rture. be wor rying about college fund s.” blood start to drain from her face.
“Tom sort of chec ked out whe n we Savannah jumped back into the con- “It’ll be a real problem if we lose Adri-
lost that Mar ko bid,” Savannah ventu red. vers ation . “True, but you’d thin k he’d enn e,” Bob said. “Sh e’s in the thick of a
“He really wanted to see that design get also be worried about quali ty of life. I huge projec t, and the clien t loves her.”
built. It was gorgeou s, with all that light guess Alyson must have decided not to He gave Mary a hard look as they passed
and air. And anyone could see that the go back to work. They’ll have him on the Jessie’s desk. “Wh at’s going on here, any-
price was righ t.” road cons tantl y.” way? It’s like our talent is being sucked
Hal agreed.“The design could n’t have out by vampi res.”
been better.” He lowe red his voice a This Is No t a Drill Hearin g the m ente r, Hele n turned
little. “If only Paul Bonn ey had been able A mont h later, Hele n was scannin g a away from the windo w. “OK, Bob,” she
to point that out.” staff utiliz ation report whe n the phone said. “Wh at exactly is this rumo r?”
Paul Bonn ey was the hea d of archi- rang. The phon e’s display showed that “Peopl e are picking up a vibe that
tectu re sales. Savanna h stared at Hal. the call was comin g from Bob Wor- she might follow Tom to J&N,” Bob be-
“You thought so, too,” she said. “His pitch tham , the vice presiden t of engineerin g. gan, pulling the door shut. “The two of
sounded so, well, uninspi red.” Throug h the ope n door, Hele n saw her 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.”
“We really value you around here, Helen shot a look at Mary. “No non-
compete?” Presumabl y, Tom had signed
and the standa rd cont ract preventin g him
from taking talent or clients with him to
I want you to be happy. I don’t the competition.
“Oh, sure,” Mary replied. “Tough to en-
want you to even think about force, though ,” she added, immedi ately

leaving.”
Adrienn e Perl e, anothe r colleague assis tant, Jessie, move to pick it up at her wishing she had n’t.
from engineerin g, could n’t help over- own desk. “Oh, I’ll find a way,” Helen spat.
hearin g as she reache d past the m for “I’ve got it, Jess,” she said, lifting the “Even if I can’t win, I can ma ke life
some utensil s. “He’s uninspi red,” Adri- receiver. “Hi, Bob. What’s up?” tough for him .”
enn e said. “And he’s not the only one. “I might need your help on somethin g. Mary and Bob exchange d glan ces.
It’s really a pity when you have someone I’m afraid we’re at risk of losing Adri- Helen turned to Bob, on the offensi ve
doing incredibl y creative work, and the enn e. It’s just a rumor so far, but I want now. “So you’re telling me we should n’t
sup port structu re isn’t the re to let it see to jump on the situ ation .” be surprised , but I’m also getting the
the light of day. All the salespeopl e fo- Hele n grima ced. “Adrienne ? You’re sense that you haven’t done anything in
cus on is cutting the deal. If you ask me, right – we don’t want to lose her. Why anticip ation of this.” She could n’t resist
that’s why Tom is leaving. He’s a first- don’t you come up now?” adding a swipe at Mary. “And why are
class architec t, but if he doesn’t have Hanging up, Helen called out to Jes- you waiting a round for the satisfaction
first-class sales and mar ketin g behind sie. “Can you see if Mary is free? If she survey results before taking any action?”
him, he’s no one. He’s the tree falling in can ma ke time right now, that would Mary opene d her mout h as if to objec t,
the forest. I’ve tried tellin g peopl e up- be great.” but Helen waved her hand imp atientl y.
stairs that we’re veerin g off base. But She stood up, wal ked over to the win- “OK, look,” she said. “I’ll talk to her. Let
nobody’s listenin g.” dow, and pressed her forehead against me see wh at I can do.” She wal ked to the
Hal shook his head . “I don’t kno w, the cool glass. On the plaza below, a few door and opened it.
guys. Tom had plen ty of wins. Mo re late luncher s cluste red aroun d a ven- “Jess, call Adrienn e Perle and ask if
work than he could handl e. I just think dor’s stainless -steel cart. She closed her she’s availabl e. I want to see her as soon
he looked above him and realize d he eyes. Another loss for Bob, she though t. as possibl e.”
was going nowhe re fast. No one on the Was he part of the problem? She shook
executi ve team is even close to retirin g, her head , refusin g to pursu e that line Oh , Won’t You Stay?
and the org cha rt is top-he avy as it is. of though t. The best way to dec rease Ten minute s later, Adrienn e appea red
Whe re’s the career path?” attrition surely could n’t be to fire loyal in Hele n’s doorway. Her he avy-framed
Adrienn e pulle d a sour face, indi cat- empl oyees. designer glasses made it a little difficult
ing agreemen t. “I wonde r how much In the hallw ay outside Hele n’s office, to read the expression on her face, but
he’ll ma ke as a pa rtner at J&N? It could Bob ran into Mary. As he relayed the her body languag e signale d anxie ty. It
44 Harvard Business Review | Jun e 2008 | hbr.org
 wasn’t every day she was summoned to Hele n had know n that the sudden- amples of depa rtments whose results di-
the CEO’s office. ness of her executi ve decision would not verged from the average s. And, as always,
A few moment s of small talk pro- sit well with Mary, but the intensi ty of the open -ende d question s had yielded
longe d the awkwa rdnes s, but Helen Mary’s reaction surprised her. She had, food for though t. Commentin g anon y-
got to the point as quickly as possibl e. after all, succeeded in keeping Adrienne mously on their survey forms, a few em-
“Adrienn e, I’ve hea rd an alarmin g ru- on board. “Despe rate times call for des- ployees had complaine d of too much
mor – that you migh t be considering perate measu res,” Helen offered in her deadw ood in the project manager rank s.
a job elsewhe re. I certainl y hop e this own defens e. One staffer referred to “certain prima
isn’t tru e.” “But that’s just it,” Mary cried. “It will donnas” who cared mo re about winning
Adrienne looked down at the coffee look like an act of despe ration to anyone awa rds than staying on budge t. The ad-
table and then around the room as if to who hea rd the rumo r. And worse than minist rative staff was, for the most part,
see who migh t have spilled the bean s. that, it isn’t fair. If that job is availabl e, neut ral. Some resented the evening and
“Rumor s spread fast aroun d here,” she the re are other people who should get a wee kend hour s they spen t when , as
said finall y. crack at it. It’s not right that they should one phrased it, “someone higher up the
“I want you to tell me the truth – in to- effecti vely be penalize d becaus e they chai n procrastin ated .” The perks we re
tal confiden ce, no repe rcussion s,” Helen were the loyal ones. Wh at kind of signal good. The perks were bad. The perks
said pleadingl y. She paused for effect.“Is does that send?” were skewed to the younger empl oyees.
Tom Forsythe talking to you?” “I’ll tell you wh at signal I thin k it The younger empl oyees didn’t feel val-
Adrienn e’s eyes widened slightly, and sends. It tells people that we aren’t so ued enough.
her answer seemed, to Helen, a little too const rained by HR procedu res th at we Helen listened for 20 minute s, saying
quick. “Tom has nothing to do with thi s,” can’t ma ke exception s for fast-rising little but shakin g her hea d frequentl y.
she said. “I mean, it’s true that I talk to talen t. That’s a positi ve messag e. And Then, whe n Mary was in the middle
him. We’ve known each other for a long as for Adrienn e, don’t worry about he r. of reading a comment a bout the snack
time – since I got here, five years ago. Everyone loves her. She’ll step up to and beverage choices in the kitchen, she
He’s probably the closest thing I’ve had the plate.” interrupted.
to a mento r. And I guess I do feel a little Mary shook her head. “It’s not a ques- “Oh, that one was min e,” she joked.
lost now that he’s gon e.” tion of populari ty or attitud e. She’s miss- Mary played alon g.“I thought so. And
“Well, my job is to ma ke sure that you ing some of the competencies…” don’t worry, I’m on the case.” But she
don’t feel lost. We really value you around “Well, aren’t we all! ”Hele n knew the boss had hea rd enough for the
here, and I wan t you to be happ y. I don’t interrupted. “Sometimes I think we momen t. Closing the report cover, she
want you to even think about leaving.” focus too much on the things that aren’t leane d back in her chai r.“I know it’s
She paused .“Is it possibl e that Bob could quite perfect. If Adrienne were on the hard to sepa rate the signal from the
play mo re of that mentorin g role?” outside and sent us her résum é, we’d say noise here, but at least it gives me some
With an uncomfortabl e shru g, Adri- she was perfect for this job. Tell me mo re ideas about wh at to probe for
enn e bega n formul ating a carefu l re- that’s not tru e.” when I’m talking to people one-on-
spons e. “Well, it’s not so much , um…” one.”
Her voice trailed away. Th e Voi ce of the Peop le “And that migh t be enough ,” Helen
Hele n let her off the hook. “Well, let’s A few weeks after the tense encounters said, “if only they would give us straight
figure out how we can fill that void.” It over Adrienn e, Mary tappe d again at answer s.”
was clear that Adrienn e wasn’t being Hele n’s door.
totall y forthcomin g but impossibl e to
“Survey result s tim e,” Mary called How can Sambian discov er what’s
know how muc h she was withholdin g. out in a singson g voice, glad that she really driving pe opl e out the doo r?
Of cours e, she would know better than
and Hele n were back on a happ y foot-
ing. She sat down across the desk from
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 r- cha rt-saturated report. “I’ll give you Edward E. Lawler II I (elawler@marshall.
ation earlie r, Helen made a decision. “In the big pictu re first. Overall, peopl e at usc.edu) is the Distinguished Professor
fact, maybe you would let me play a little Sambia n are quit e satisfie d with just of Business at the University of Southern
of that role myself. I’m promotin g you.” about every aspec t of thei r empl oyment California’s Marshall School of Busi-
experien ce.” ness and the founder and director of the
Whi ch Is Worse? Helen groaned. university’s Center for Effective Organiza-
“Helen , you can’t do that! Adrienn e’s “I know, I know,” Mary continued ,“but tions. His latest book is Talen t: Making
only a level-six empl oyee – she’ll drown once you get into the detail s, the re are People Your Competiti ve Advantage
in that position .” some nuan ces.” She offered a few ex- (Jossey-Bass, 2008).