Thursday, May 24, 2007

Mass Defections of Key Staff after Take-over of Futures Group

In the 18 months since the full take-over of the Futures Group, there have been mass defections of numerous key management, technical, and finance staff. Many of these departing staff had been with the company for years and were instrumental in building the Futures Group programs and human capacity. The list includes very senior managers and officers, center directors, project directors, and internationally-known technical experts in reproductive health and HIV/AIDS.

In the U.S. alone, Futures has lost about 40 percent of the technical and management staff it had when Constella took over. A total of 16 senior staff at the officer or director levels departed, and numerous mid-and lower level technical and administrative staff have followed them. The following are some of the job titles of these critical staff members:
  • Vice President and Director of the Center for Analysis and Modeling
  • Chief Operating Officer
  • Director of the Center for Policy Development
  • Managing Director, Futures Group - Europe
  • President of Futures Group International, Vice President of Futures Holding, Futures Europe, and the Institute of Sustainable Development
  • Vice President, and Former Director of Center for Private Sector Solutions and Director Center for Policy & Advocacy
  • Vice President - Operations
  • Director Center of International Health
  • Former Director Center for International Health
  • Director of Center for Private Sector Solutions
  • Director of the Center for Analysis and Modeling
  • Deputy Director Futures Group - Europe
  • Director of the HPI Project
  • Deputy Director Center for HIV/AIDS
  • CFO Futures Group and Futures Europe
  • Director of Human Resources
  • Manager of Communications
Many of these experienced staff members also served as project directors for the company and were well-known and regarded by the company's main sponsors in USAID, DfID, and the Gates Foundation. In all, more than 50 individuals quit the company in the year and a half after the take over. Industry observers report that this is an extraordinarily high level of defections under any circumstances, and that it will no doubt affect the firm’s ability to expand it work in international health.

Insiders and former employees cite various reasons for the mass defections. Among these are severe cuts in benefits and overall remuneration, below industry average annual increases, reductions in holidays, and sick leave. For example, the 401k match was drastically reduced in 2006. Many former and current staff have also cited poor management and communications practices, senior management arrogance, and misrepresentations about the adverse impacts of the take-over on staff remuneration and benefits. It has been recently reported that Constella has been unable to fill several key management and technical positions despite months of recruiting.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, that means Constella Futures web site on its 4-person management team is out-of date. Three of the four people listed as "the Leadership Team" at the company have resigned and left the company.

http://www.constellafutures.com/Company.cfm?area=2

Anonymous said...

So is the corporate video. There should be subtitles - "Gone", "Got Resigned"

Anonymous said...

A few more have left just in the past few days and a few more have announced they are leaving.