The Trump Administration has a historically unprecedented rate of turnover of the senior staff, and it shows no sign of abating. This level of disruption would be difficult for any organization to handle. But these difficulties are compounded in the unique environment of the White House — and, for reasons I’ll elaborate on, may be especially difficult for this administration.
Why Staff Turnover in the White House Is Such a Bad Thing — Especially For President Trump
The Trump Administration has a historically unprecedented rate of turnover of the senior staff. This level of disruption would be difficult for any organization to handle, but these difficulties are compounded in the unique environment of the White House — and may be especially difficult for this administration. High levels of senior executive turnover are difficult for any organization to absorb. When an organization gets a new leader, their productive work slows down substantially, and it takes time for trust and tacit knowledge to be rebuilt. Turnover in the White House is often common, as these jobs are incredibly stressful. But the problems created by turnover tend to be worse in exactly these kinds of high-stakes environments. For the Trump White House, these problems are further exacerbated because there’s so little public sector expertise among the people they’ve managed to hire and retain. Every leader needs talented people around him, and while this president relishes a certain amount of chaos, the results of chaos in his staff are not likely to be positive.