The first thing I noticed when I joined CMR was that the compensation practices included unstructured starting salaries and increases in salary that were not only unequal, but often unjustified. Instead of basing severance packages on an impartial measure such as tenure, they were based on the emotions associated with the separation, the prior relationships with the Partners, or the public images that had to be saved. There was definitely an "us versus them" culture and if you belonged to the wrong side, it was apparent. I don't want to lump all of the Partners together and say they all had toxic behaviors because there were 2 that truly and genuinely cared about the staff and communicated it well. The big takeaway I had from CMR was the realization that the 80/20 rule was accurate. 80% of the work was done by 20% of the staff. When you are part of the 20% but you aren't acknowledged or compensated as well as others, your decision to leave is inevitable.