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Breaking the Myth of High Turnover · The Science of Leading

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  Hey everyone-welcome back to The Science of Leading.
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  I'm Claire Monroe, joined as always by the voice of reason,
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  Edwin Carrington.
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  Today we're busting some myths about why people really
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  quit their jobs.
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  And Edwin-I mean,
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  most folks would just say "money," right?
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  Or maybe, like, perks?
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  But that's kinda missing the point?
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  That's the popular narrative,
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  yeah.
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  But in reality-those are surface-level triggers.
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  What's often underneath
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  is behavioral misalignment.
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  A few years ago,
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  I worked with a mid-sized tech company-great salaries,
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  generous perks-but they kept losing engineers.
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  Turned out,
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  they were hiring brilliant individual contributors into a highly collaborative
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  culture.
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  These folks didn't thrive in group problem-solving.
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  They felt drained, even alienated... so they left.
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  Quietly.
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  No drama.
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  Just out the door.
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  Wow.
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  Yeah, that... that hits.
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  I'm thinking about all those lists we see-like,
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  "top reasons employees quit"-bad bosses,
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  toxic teams, no growth...But what you're saying is,
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  it's less about one dramatic dealbreaker and more like-how someone fits
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  into the day-to-day rhythm of a team?
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  Exactly.
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  If someone's wired for structure,
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  and your team thrives in ambiguity?
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  That's tension.
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  If a role demands constant collaboration,
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  but they recharge solo?
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  That's fatigue.
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  You can't yoga-retreat your way out of that kind of misfit.
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  And
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  the signs start small-less volunteering,
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  more silence, maybe avoidance.
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  If leaders wait for the resignation letter
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  to start investigating... they're too late.
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  Okay,
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  so-real talk-how do you spot that misalignment early?
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  Like,
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  are there little tells that someone's already halfway out the door?
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  There
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  are.
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  But they're subtle.
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  You'll see withdrawal: they stop chiming in,
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  stop offering ideas.
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  Maybe it's increased sick days... or suddenly they're
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  very active on LinkedIn.
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  One of the big ones?
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  They stop asking questions.
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  Curiosity fades when people feel out of place.
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  And
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  sometimes, it's not even about what they do-but how others stop including
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  them.
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  That social drift?
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  That's a red flag.
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  That's such a good point.
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  And we never talk about that
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  stuff enough, right?
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  We obsess over résumés,
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  but we forget to ask: "Does this person actually enjoy the way we work?"Like...
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  do they light up in this culture-or are they just surviving it?
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  Exactly.
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  Compensation
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  might get someone to say yes.
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  But fit-fit keeps them engaged.
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  And respected.
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  And growing.
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  When those things click,
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  people stay.
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  Even through hard quarters.
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  Okay,
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  let's talk money for a sec.
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  I've seen companies throw so much cash at
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  retention-like, gourmet snacks,
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  quarterly bonuses, even "please don't leave" stipends-...and still lose
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  their entire top sales team.
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  I saw it firsthand at a hospitality group.
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  They
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  had all the perks, but their stars bailed-and the whole team vibe just...
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  deflated.
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  So what's the real cost of turnover when companies don't get
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  to the root?
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  It's bigger than most leaders realize.
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  Sure,
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  there's the obvious: recruiting costs,
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  onboarding, lost output.
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  But the deeper hit is operational and cultural.
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  When
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  a respected teammate walks, it sends a signal.
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  Morale dips.
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  Momentum slows.
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  Sometimes clients even feel it.
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  Suddenly,
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  your brand isn't just "innovative"-it's "unstable."And here's the kicker:
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  it's rarely about comp alone.
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  No one stays for the free yogurt.
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  Ha-yep.
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  Been there.
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  And I've read that too-like,
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  culture misalignment actually outranks salary as a predictor for quitting?
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  Even
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  top performers will walk away from money if the energy is wrong?
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  That's
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  right.
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  In fact, that LinkedIn Workforce Learning Report showed 94% of people
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  would stay longer if their company invested in their growth.
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  So it's not
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  just the vibe.
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  It's vision.
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  When people feel like they're moving with the organization,
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  not just working for it-that's sticky.
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  That's your retention strategy.
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  Yeah-and
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  it creates that ripple effect, right?
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  Like,
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  one person leaves... then their mentor starts looking... and suddenly you've
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  lost more than headcount.
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  You've lost know-how.
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  You've lost continuity.
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  It's this quiet unraveling.
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  Exactly.
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  And trying
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  to fix it with surface perks is like slapping duct tape on a leaky dam.
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  If
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  you want people to stay-you have to build the foundation before it cracks.
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  Okay,
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  let's pivot to the "what now."If a company wants to get ahead of all
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  this-what's the first real move?
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  Like,
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  what actually works?
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  Start at the beginning-at hiring.
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  Match people not
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  just to job titles, but to team dynamics.
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  Use behavioral assessments.
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  Structure your interviews.
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  And don't just ask "Can they do the job?" Ask:"Will
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  they thrive in this specific environment?"Then-just as important-build
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  in regular feedback loops.
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  So you're not waiting for people to quit to
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  learn what's broken.
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  So good.
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  Can you give us,
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  like, a real-world "win" story?
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  Where a team actually fixed this-from
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  the inside-not with shiny perks?
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  Definitely.
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  I worked with a SaaS company
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  whose customer success team had sky-high churn-despite high pay.
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  We realized
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  they were hiring for credentials,
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  not for energy.
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  So we adjusted the process-started screening for adaptability,
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  collaboration, and resilience.
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  We brought in assessments to understand
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  preferred workstyles.
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  And the results?
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  Turnover dropped,
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  belonging scores rose, and-this part surprised even me-customer satisfaction
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  jumped, too.
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  Because when your team feels like they belong,
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  that radiates outward.
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  That's such a good reminder.
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  Even companies known
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  for chaos-like, Netflix, Zappos-they're deliberate about culture and hiring.
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  It's
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  not about locking people in-it's about creating a place where they want
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  to stay.
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  Exactly.
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  The best retention strategy isn't a cage-it's a magnet.
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  When
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  values, expectations, and workstyles align... even rapid growth feels energizing,
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  not draining.
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  That's the foundation you need to weather disruption,
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  scale, and even the occasional misstep.
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  Because people want to stay where
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  they feel seen.
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  So that brings us back to something we say a lot here:Hire
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  for where you're headed-not just who looks shiny on paper.
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  And build in
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  fit and feedback early.
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  That's how you design retention-not scramble to
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  fix it.
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  Well said, Claire.
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  And if you're listening right now and thinking
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  "Okay, but where do I start?"-Take a look at your best people.
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  What do
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  they have in common?
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  That's your blueprint.
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  Build from there.
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  Love that.
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  And if you're curious about how to actually
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  apply this stuff-you can test OAD's behavioral assessments and tools-for
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  free-at o-a-d dot a-i.
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  It's a simple way to improve team fit... and start
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  retaining the right folks.
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  Couldn't agree more.
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  Thanks for tuning in,
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  everyone.
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  Always a pleasure, Claire.
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  You too,
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  Edwin.
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  Catch you next time on The Science of Leading!