You are a senior member of a national law firm in New York City. The managing partner of the firm has asked you to head up the southern branch in Raleigh, North Carolina. This branch is 1 of 10 under the main office. On the whole, the firm has been successful since its establishment in the mid- 1950s, but in the last five years, many of the younger staff have elected to leave the firm. The managing partner is convinced the problem is not salary be-cause a recent survey indicated that the firm’s salary structure is competitive with that of other major firms. However, he requests that you study this matter firsthand in your new assignment. After getting settled in Raleigh one of your first projects is to meet with the four senior managers to determine why the branch has had such a high attrition rate among the younger staff. Harding Smith, age 45, states that the younger staff lacks dedication and fails to appreciate the career opportunities the firm provides. Wilma Thompson, age 50, says the younger staff members are always complaining about the lack of meaningful feedback on their performance, and many have mentioned that they would like to have a sponsor in the organization to assist with their development. Thompson further explains that the firm does provide performance ratings to staff and the previous manager had always maintained an open-door policy. Brian Scott, age 40, says he has received complaints that training is not relevant and is generally dull. He explains that various persons in the firm who worked with training from time to time acted mainly on guidance from New York. Denise Rutherford, age 38, says she believes the root of the problem is the lack of a human resource department. However, she says that when the idea was mentioned to the managing partner in New York, it was totally rejected.
Question
1. What do you think about the idea of a human resource department in a professional office?
2. How would you sell the idea of a human resource department to the managing partner?
3. What type of organizational structure would you propose?