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Inspired Departure

I don't know about contagious quitting but the phenomenon I have observed over the decades in the workforce is more like inspired quitting. Often there are a few folks in key roles in the organization who act as a bell-weather for disaffected employees. They usually have tenure and influence and form the bedrock of that company's culture. 

The disaffected people are always watching the bell-weather types to decide which side of the fence they need to be. Usually these folks are new to the company and feel like they don't have enough information to make an intelligent leave or stay decision. Once one or more of the bell-weathers quit, it starts a minor tsunami of resignations. People on the fence act with great decisiveness after such events now that they have the signal they had been waiting for. The wave does not propagate much further. 

Not sure if these events are good or bad for the company in question. In the short term it is chaotic and disruptive for the culture as hiring managers scramble to fill the gaps and prop team morale the best they can, try to impede the momentum to leave. Longer term, the dust settles leading to lasting change and not always for the better. In smaller companies, the old guard gets sharply separated from the post-tsunami hires, leaving a chasm between the two sets. 

I know three mid-sized companies in my home-town that experienced multiple waves of resignations each following the departure of a pivotal figure - someone others were watching to make up their mind. Each of these companies has turned into something unrecognizable from the pre-tsunami times, CEOs and entire leadership teams have moved on and such. Just about no one I know from the old times works in these places anymore. 

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