Proliferation Of Sudden Vacancies In Senior IRGC Positions Prompts Employee-Retention Inquiry

Complicating factor: the unavailability of exit interviews by those no longer with the company.

Damascus, April 10 – One week after the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps lost multiple high-ranking operatives here in the Syrian capital, officials in the group and among its leaders in Tehran have begun investigating what they believe is a broader and continuing phenomenon: attrition of personnel, which the leaders preliminarily attribute to issues of worker satisfaction, but remain open to considering other factors, Iranian sources disclosed today.

The sources noted that beyond the sudden forced and permanent retirement of General Mohammad Reza Zahedi last Monday in Syria, numerous other Quds Force and associated commanders of Iran’s proxies in the region – and in the Quds Force of the IRGC itself – have in recent years not continued with those organizations at key moments in regional developments, even after serving Tehran loyally for decades. The attrition has increased since this past October, when the IRGC has required their contributions more intensively.

“High-profile, concurrent failures to retain the most-experienced, respected, and heretofore loyal personnel has finally sounded the appropriate alarm bells in Tehran,” one observer noted. “Iran better figure out quickly what policies, ceilings, or corporate culture they have in place that need revamping, because losing employees like that is never a sign of good health in an organization.”

The sudden permanent retirement of the senior personnel in Damascus, which included General Zahedi of the IRGC but also multiple high-ranking figures in Hezbollah and other terrorism proxies of the Khamenei regime – represents only the most recent, and highest-profile, sudden permanent retirement of personnel in the conglomerate. Hezbollah has faced personnel reduction at an increased rate since this past October, with many middle-management-level decision-makers voicing reluctance to accept promotions to once-coveted senior positions in the organization.

A significant element of the challenge in assessing the factors leading to the sudden departures involves the unavailability of exit interviews by those no longer with the company. “In a standard corporate, or even not-for-profit, environment,” explained organizational consultant Patrick Levy, “every departing member of the organization, certainly in middle and upper management, is invited to discuss his experience. This allows executives to understand what, if any, processes and policies require improvement to increase employee satisfaction and therefore longevity – and, therefore, productivity and attainment of organizational goals.”

“Unfortunately,” continued Levy, “for some reason, the executives in Tehran cannot contact those who have departed, even the medium- and low-level former personnel. All they will have to go on is anecdotal evidence, but other current employees, fearful of job security, might not answer honestly.”

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