Case Study: Communication Gaps and Employee Turnover in a Fast‑Growing Internet Company

Introduction

Zhang San is a product manager who reports to Li Si, whose manager is Wang Wu. After Wang Wu was newly appointed as department head, the company began one‑by‑one interviews with key staff to understand their work situation.

Yesterday Zhang San submitted his resignation to Li Si, which Li Si approved. According to the normal exit process, Wang Wu should conduct the exit interview, but he was unaware of Zhang San’s resignation.

Hope

Zhang San feels the company’s development is slow, sees little value in daily tasks, and is skeptical about cross‑departmental flagship projects that consume his time without aligning with his KPI. He hopes for a clearer strategic direction.

Pain

Directors often clash, protect their own domains, and follow vague orders from higher‑up executives without understanding the purpose, leading to work that feels meaningless and unassessed.

Problem

The biggest issue is that employees receive no formal communication of the company’s future strategic goals, leaving them uncertain about the organization’s direction.

Wang Wu recognizes that Zhang San is a capable, proactive core employee, and his departure would be a significant loss.

Solution

Regular department All‑hands meetings should be held to convey strategic information. Even if rapid decisions prevent full explanations each time, leaders should strive to share updates as early as possible, even via brief briefings.

It is recommended to conduct a quarterly summary and update.

Problem Cause

The root cause is that leaders in fast‑expanding internet companies often neglect intentional information transmission during rapid growth, assuming messages will naturally flow down, which rarely happens and leads to information decay.

In smaller companies (under 200 employees), informal communication may suffice, but as the organization scales, explicit strategic communication becomes essential.