Latest / Hiring & Firing with Fexingo: Recruitment, Performance, and Workforce Decisions / How a Resignation Letter Revealed Our Hiring Blind Spots
Transcript
- Lucas: So a few weeks ago, I got forwarded a resignation letter that stopped me cold. It wasn't angry. It wasn't dramatic. It was just — honest. And that honesty made it devastating. Luna: What did it say? Lucas: The employee — let's call her Maya — had been hired six months earlier as a product marketing manager at a mid-size SaaS company. She wrote, quote, 'I was hired to do strategic work, but spend 80 percent of my time on spreadsheet formatting and meeting notes.' She said the job she was doing looked nothing like the job she was promised. Luna: Ouch. That's the classic bait and switch, isn't it? The hiring team sells a vision, and then the day-to-day reality is something else. Lucas: Exactly. And what struck me was that her manager was blindsided. He thought she was doing fine. No performance issues, no complaints. So when she resigned, he had no idea why. But her letter laid it out clearly — she felt misled. Luna: It makes you wonder how many other people leave quietly for the same reason, and the company never finds out because they don't ask the right questions. Lucas: That's the thing. Most companies do exit interviews, but they're often too late or too scripted. By the time someone's handed in notice, they've already checked out emotionally. You get the polite answers — 'better opportunity,' 'more growth' — and you miss the real signal. Luna: So what did this company do differently? Did they actually learn anything from Maya's letter? Lucas: Yeah, they did. The head of HR shared the letter — anonymized — with the leadership team and asked two questions: 'Where did we oversell this role?' and 'Where did we fail to check for fit?' And they found a pattern. Luna: A pattern in the hiring process itself? Lucas: Right. They realized that every job description for product marketing included the phrase 'strategic leader,' but the actual role, for the first 12 to 18 months, was heavily execution-focused. The interviews never gave candidates a realistic preview of the day-to-day. Everyone was selling the dream future, not the messy present. Luna: So the fix would be to build in what some companies call a 'job preview' — giving candidates a real taste of the work, maybe a small project or a shadow day. Lucas: Yes. And it doesn't have to be complicated. One simple change they made was to have the hiring manager spend the last 10 minutes of every final interview describing a typical week: 'On Monday, I review campaign metrics. On Tuesday, I sit in on a product sync. On Wednesday, I'm formatting decks for the VP.' Just the unglamorous truth. Luna: That's almost uncomfortably honest. But doesn't that risk scaring away good candidates? Lucas: Maybe — but that's the point. You want candidates to self-select out if the reality doesn't fit. It's better to lose someone before they start than six months in, when you've invested training and they've already mentally checked out. Luna: There's a concept I've heard called the 'emotional contract' — the unspoken expectations both sides bring. And when those are mismatched, that's when you get these resignations. Lucas: That's exactly what Maya's letter highlighted. She had an emotional contract that said 'I'll work hard if you give me strategic ownership.' The company's emotional contract said 'We'll invest in you if you prove yourself through execution first.' Neither side voiced that. So when reality collided, there was no way to reconcile. Luna: And I bet that happens a lot more with high performers — because they're the ones who value autonomy and impact most. They're also the ones who leave fastest when they don't get it. Lucas: Absolutely. The data backs that up. Some studies show that the cost of a bad hire can be up to 30 percent of that employee's first-year salary. But the cost of a mismatched hire — someone competent but in the wrong role — is even harder to measure because it looks like retention, but it's really quiet attrition. Luna: You know, this reminds me of something — and I realize this ties into what keeps our show going. If these conversations have moved your work forward in some small way, it's because we don't have to compromise on content or length. We keep the show ad-free because listeners like you support it. If that's been valuable, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just a simple way to keep this going. Lucas: Yeah, that support really matters. It lets us dig into stories like Maya's without worrying about fitting in a commercial break. Anyway — back to the resignation letter. The company I mentioned actually started tracking what they called 'early-exit data.' They analyzed every resignation within the first 12 months and coded the reason: mismatch, manager, compensation, or personal. Luna: What did they find? Lucas: Mismatch was the number one reason — 42 percent of early exits. And almost all of those mentioned some version of 'the job wasn't what I expected.' So they put together a 'day-in-the-life' document that hiring managers have to share with every final-round candidate. Luna: A written document? Not just a conversation? Lucas: Right. A one-pager. It lists the top five activities the role will actually spend time on for the first six months. No spin. And they ask candidates to sign off that they've read it. It sounds bureaucratic, but it cut their early turnover by about 30 percent in the first year. Luna: I love that. It's a small structural change that forces honesty into the process. And it probably also helps managers be more realistic about what they're hiring for. Lucas: Exactly. Because sometimes the manager doesn't even realize they're overselling. They genuinely believe the role will evolve quickly, but they don't have a timeline. The document forces them to commit to the current reality. Luna: So if someone listening wants to do this, what's the first step? Should they start with a resignation letter audit? Lucas: I'd start with two things. First, look at your last 10 to 15 resignations — especially early ones. If you can get the real reason, great. If not, send an anonymous survey to departed employees from the past year. Ask one question: 'Was the job you did significantly different from the job you were promised?' You might be surprised. Luna: And the second thing? Lucas: Write a 'realistic job preview' for your own role. Just a paragraph. What do you actually spend your time on? What's the most tedious part? What's the most surprising? Then ask yourself: would you hire someone without sharing that? Luna: That's a good gut check. A lot of managers would probably realize they've been selling a role they don't actually have. Lucas: Right. And the beauty is, it's free. It takes 20 minutes. But it can save you months of wasted hiring and the pain of watching good people walk out the door. Luna: So let me ask you this — have you ever had a moment where a resignation letter revealed something about your own hiring blind spots? Lucas: Yeah, I have. Early in my career, I was a manager at a media startup. I hired a senior writer who was brilliant — amazing portfolio, great interview. But within three months, she was miserable. She wrote a very similar letter to Maya's. She said she was hired to shape editorial strategy but spent most of her time editing junior writers' grammar. Luna: And you hadn't seen that coming? Lucas: Not at all. I thought I was being clear in the interview. But looking back, I talked a lot about 'vision' and 'impact' and hardly mentioned the day-to-day editing grind. I sold her on the part of the job I was most excited about — not the part she'd actually be doing. Luna: That's such a common trap. We hire in our own image or for the role we wish we had. Lucas: Exactly. And that's why I think every resignation letter is a gift. It's a chance to see where your process broke down. If you can read it without getting defensive, you can fix the root cause. Luna: So what's the one thing you'd want every hiring manager to take away from this episode? Lucas: That the best time to prevent a resignation is before you even make the offer. If you're honest about the job — the boring parts, the friction, the unglamorous reality — you'll attract people who actually want that job. And they'll stay longer. Luna: That's a pretty good closing thought. Thanks, Lucas. Lucas: Thanks, Luna. Talk to everyone next time.