Top law firms learning that career satisfaction is important; High salaries don't buy associate loyalty

The prestigious law firm Sullivan & Cromwell is learning that just paying some of the highest salaries for first year associates ($150,000) doesn't guarantee associate loyalty. They know this because Sullivan & Cromwell is suffering from extremely high associate turnover (over 30%) and low rankings (#155 out of 160 in a survey of midlevel associates).

So what new initiatives are being implemented at Sullivan & Cromwell?

-saying 'thank you' and 'good work' to associates.
-return associates' phone calls as quickly as they would a partner/client.
-try not to cancel associates' vacations.

Amazing that it took this long for them to understand that workers (even first year associates) have a choice where they want to work and money is not the only determining factor. Firms (or companies) that think otherwise had better accept low employee job satisfaction leading to high-levels of turnover.

If you are a manager and this study surprises you it's time to take a few subordinates out to lunch for some bottom-up feedback. In fact you and the Sullivan & Cromwell partners might do well to read "The Carrot Principle" by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton. The WSJ calls it a "quick, clear read, admirably free of jargon and generally sensible about the low cost and potentially high returns of rewarding employee effort." Their case was bolstered by research that shows that 66% of employees who were ask to list work motivators named appreciation as one of the most important. Another study cited the statistic that 79% of the people who left a job did so because they didn't feel appreciated enough. Finally the authors cite a strong correlation between recognition and return on equity.