Sambian Partners : Why Are We Losing All Our Good People

Why Are We Losing All Our Good People Background: Sambian Partners founded by Peter Gasbarian in1975. Gasbarian idea was to build top notch architecture and engineering firm. Helen Gasbarian took charge of Sambian Partners as CEO in1997. The case begins with the resignation of Tom Forsythe, an assistant director. Mary Donillo, the head of human resources was opposed to Tom's decision. According to Adrienne Perle, one of the engineers at Sambian Partners people was quite unhappy. When this came into light, Mary Donillo asked her opinion regarding the current situation at the firm and from here she came to know the dissatisfaction among the employees with the current working conditions, mainly from the higher-ups in the organization. The CEO Helen Gasbarian makes decision of promoting Adrianne to a supervisor position. At this, anger rose among other employees who are more qualified but were not promoted. The junior employees were in an opinion that they could make their mark by leaving the company and work on interesting jobs. Mary decides to carry out an employee survey. She designed open ended questions to get an accurate snapshot of the current scenario the company is facing. But the questions prove to be quite mixed. Employees were giving feedback by leaving. Clearly, they feel that more direct forms of feedback will go unheeded. Helen needs to find the root cause of why employees don't trust the company or don't care enough about the company to improve it. Purpose:- To find the reason for the talent drain. Proposed recommendation:- * To provide a forum where employees can speak openly about their discontent without fear of repercussions. (Grievance Management)[2] Methodology:- We have used business school approach, literature case study method, to study the case and give the recommendation. Findings on evidence:-Evidence: -â€Å"Why are we losing all our good people†, Edward E. Lawler III Harvard Business Rev. June 2008 Nov. Author ;Date| Population ; type oforganization| Design| Measures| Outcome| Comment| Rene Schalk, Wim Van Dijk| Conceptual paper| Dutch health care| Concept of employees' psychological contracts with their organization  |   Integrate employee commitment and quality management  | Quality fails when the system fails| T. N. Krishnan| Research paper| Indian organizations| Study carried on the employees| Valuable workplace| Understanding employment relationship| Lisa A. Steelman, Kelly A. Rutkowski| Research paper| Multinational company| Recipient's willingness to change his or her behavior| Motivated to improve job performance| Credible feedback | Carley Foster, Khanyapuss Punjaisri, Ranis Cheng| Conceptual paper| Multinational company| Employees' attitudes and behaviors| Closer alignment between the employees' values and those of the corporate brand| Synergized to achieve a strong, consistent corporate brand| Manuel London | General review| Multinational company| Interviews with bosses of young first-line managers| Encouraging individual contribution and personal growth| Career motivation| Karien Stadler| Research paper| Saudi Arabian mining company| Sample of 59 executives and senior managers| Talent reviews in the identification, development and retention of potential employees| Company's growth strategy| Thomas N. Garavan|   Literature review| Irish firms| Study of career development practices| Promote career development within the organization| Focusing on the role of the line manager, HRM specialist and the general design of career development systems within an organization| Conclusion:- In the case â€Å"Why are we losing all our good people† we can observe that there is a need of a platform where employees can came out with their discontentment and grievances regarding their working conditions. According to the evidence, Hal's news comes as a shock to Mary. â€Å"Are we part of the problem? † thought Mary as Hal describes the scene he just saw moments earlier. At this moment, a decision must be made: does the company asks its employees to take a job satisfaction survey, or does Mary stop the problem in its tracks by confronting Adrianne directly? The CEO and Mary decide to choose the later, ask Adrianne what is on her mind. After idle conversation the question is asked, â€Å"Is Tom Forsythe talking to you? And are these rumors true? After a few awkward minutes, the truth is reviled. No, Tom is not talking to Adrianne, but she is quite simply unhappy with the current working conditions, mainly from the higher-ups in the organization. Final decision:- From the above evidence we say that Sambian should establish an open-door policy so that employees know that they can talk to someone above their supervisors if they have a complaint. Helen must personally guarantee that feedback will be taken seriously. The employees might be experiencing an imbalance between work and life. The corporate culture should be clearly defined and the employees surveyed should analyze how far they are separated from the same. The employees also felt that there were inadequate career opportunities where they can grow. There was lack of recognition to their higher order needs. Jean Martin, executive director of the Corporate Leadership Council, gave the professional opinion of this article. According to her advice, the issue does not fall on â€Å"what† Mary is asking; it is â€Å"How† she asks it. It will be a harmful for a company when large groups of employees are migrating from it. In such situations, managers will be blamed. Not because they are doing a bad job and they failed to foresee this issue. But as a manager, it is important that they should conduct â€Å"audits† to make sure that their employees are happy. This is known as a â€Å"culture audit. â€Å"[1] It can prove be an effective way to combat these issues. Hence, a robust and clear HR processes is required to make these policies work within the company. References:- 1. Rene Schalk, International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance   2. T. N. Krishnan, Employee Relations  ,2011 , Vol. 33, Issues: 5 3. Manuel London, Journal of Management Development  , 1986Volume: 5  Issue: 3 4. http://www. emeraldinsight. com/journals. htm? issn=0967-0734&volume=18&issue=3&articleid=1864041&show=abstract 5. http://www. emeraldinsight. com/journals. htm? issn=0967-0734&volume=18&issue=7 6. http://blcdocs. cox. smu. edu