Leaders and Values

Case Study - Why are we losing all our good people?

Established in 1975, Sambian Partners is a specialized, highly respected, innovative and interesting architectural and engineering firm. There was no other like it in the market. The purpose was to be cutting edge unlike the larger firms and attract key, young talent focused on interesting niche projects. As a small to medium enterprise, the founding Chief Executive Officer, Peter Gasbarian, focused his attraction and recruitment practices on young and visionary talent luring them with appealing remuneration packages and interesting projects enabling them to make their mark quickly.

In 1997, Helen Gasbarian, an award winning and model for innovative architecture in her own right, inherited the Chief Executive Officer role upon the death of her father. Her mandate was to continue to drive the innovative culture, increase collaboration across the business groups particularly between designers, engineers and sales teams whilst continuing to grow the business.

English: Stewart Liff is an author of multiple boo...

Society for Human Resource Management

English: Facade of Ives Hall, Cornell University

Business growth ensued and new offices were opened in three further cities: San Francisco, New York and London. This was coupled with recognition that Sambian was ahead of their competitors in terms of new practices in the environmentally friendly space of architecture and engineering. The strategic and policy making for the operations of the business are managed via the executive management group headed by the Chief Executive Officer and represent all stakeholders.

Maintaining a competitive advantage places a heavy premium on having a highly committed and competent workforce in today's intensely competitive and global marketplace. Competitive advantage lies not just in differentiating a product or service or in becoming the innovative leader but in also being able to tap the organisation's special skills and core competencies and rapidly respond to customer and stakeholder needs and competitors market shifts. In a growing number of organisations, human...