Case Studies
The following case studies are composites. Details and identifying circumstances have been changed. The dynamics and outcomes are drawn from my personal experience. No client is identifiable, and no client has ever been asked to be.
Case Study #1
The Outside Hire Is Having Trouble
(Her team had already chosen someone else)
THE SITUATION
A non-profit hired a director of operations from the outside. She was the only Black person at the director level. Everyone reporting to her had been there forever . . . including the internal candidate who was told he came in a close second.
Five months in, the CHRO called me. No complaint, no incident, no performance issue. But then she started asking for meetings to be documented in writing, and she was the only director doing that. (Click Here To Continue)
Case Study #2
When Life Experience & Worldviews Collide
Case Study #3
The Finding Came Back As “Unsubstantiated”.
The investigation answered the legal questions. The people questions weren’t.
THE SITUATION
A complaint against a senior manager. Outside investigator, six weeks, twenty-two interviews, a careful report. Findings: Unsubstantiated.
Both people saw each other every day. She felt nothing had been found because nothing was looked for. He felt that just being investigated already cost him something no finding could ever give back. Their department had quietly sorted into camps.
The general counsel called me. His words: “The file is closed, but the problem isn't.” (Click Here To Continue)
Case Study #4
When Fear,
Not Anger, Rules
Case Study #5
The Medical Leave Was Handled Perfectly. His Return Was Not.
(He came back to a job that had been quietly divided up while he was gone.)
THE SITUATION
A senior analyst returned from four months of medical leave. Every accommodation was approved, and every form was filed on time. HR had done this correctly and had the file to prove it.
His two largest accounts had been reassigned while she was out. Nobody reassigned them back. When he asked, his manager told him he was being protected from taking on too much too soon.
Nine weeks later, he asked HR to put a second copy of his original accommodation letter in his file. What was he thinking? That’s when they called me. (Click Here To Continue)