Why Your Best People Are Leaving

Reading time: 2 minutes

There's little that can compare to the feeling when your top person knocks on your door and tells you that they're ready to move on. When I had just started out, I would try everything in the playbook to make them rethink their decision.

? Once the other person has made up their mind, there's nothing you can really do.

I would try salary raises, better conditions, and more responsibilities. But after a few years, it dawned on me. Once the other person has made up their mind, there's nothing you can really do.??

I had a talented guy on my team. A rising star, who started with us very young, and I had even promoted him twice in a short period.

But one day he came to my office and told me he took a project in another country. We had never spoken about that before.

???I admit I even felt a little betrayed initially. Sad as well..

? Why is he leaving? What did I do wrong?

Once the emotions calmed down, I asked myself: "Why is he leaving? What did I do wrong? How can I stop this from happening again with others?"

It was pretty difficult to answer those questions back then. As a leader, I was still learning – it's a never-ending process, after all.

But after being in a similar situation many times, I see several reasons why great people leave.

I've also seen a couple of things that help?retain great people. Let me share them with you.

Let them play their games and land their wins.

?? Imagine you're playing Monopoly with your friends. But instead of everyone rolling their dice, one person tells everyone what to do. How many spaces to move, what street to buy, what card to play, and how long to stay in jail.

How much fun would that be?

? People want to play and make decisions rather than carry out orders.

Like my colleague, people want to play and make their own decisions (and mistakes!) rather than just carrying out orders. This is what makes the job fun for them.

Besides, high performance comes with high trust.?Giving your people room for their way of playing the game makes them feel trusted.???

Enjoying their job and feeling trusted makes a person want to stay. This sounds obvious, but most leaders (including me) have learned this the hard way.

However, even if we allow people to play the game their way, we should ensure it stays exciting! We need to tweak it to keep our best people engaged and motivated.

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See you on the other side!

Leon