Why Do Good People Quit Now? | 2-Minute Video

Why do good people quit now?

It’s an important question to ask because if you don’t know the reasons behind turnover, you can’t prevent it. And you especially don’t want good employees walking out the door at any time.

What’s Up in This Episode: Why People Quit Now

In this episode of HRMorning’s 3-Point, our expert, Michael Horn, Co-Author, Job Moves: Nine Steps for Making Progress in Your Career, shares the four biggest motivations behind employees’ desire to quit.

Click, watch and listen for more details on the research behind employee turnover and three ways you can help stop it and keep good employees in your fold.

Transcript (edited for clarity):

Employees have quit all the time since the beginning of time.

And over the centuries of turnover, we blame it on the economy, the culture, the next-best-thing, the personality, the boss, the employee. It’s always something. But could turnover really be just one of four things?

That’s what researcher and author Michael Horn says.

Michael Horn: “So the first one is what we call get out. These are people who are unhappy with how their energy is being used. feel like they’re being micromanaged or the way the company is working is just not, it’s just not happening for them.”

Horn: “On the flip side of that is what we call the take the next steppers. And these people are actually pretty happy with how their energy is used and what they’re asked to do. And they feel like they’re at a career or personal milestone and it’s the next logical step. It’s time to take that next step on my journey.“

Horn: “The third one we found is what we call regain control. And these are people who actually like what they’re doing and the skill set that they get to use on the day-to-day job. But they feel like that the way their energy is being used or their time is being used is fundamentally off and they want to reset on those dimensions. So these are people interested in work-life balance.”

Horn: “And then the last one is what we call regain alignment. And these people are sort of the flip of the regain control. They’re happy with how their time and energy is used, but they’re really unhappy with how their skill sets or capabilities are used. They often feel fundamentally disrespected.”

So, in a capsule, people quit for one of four reasons. They want to get out, take the next step, regain control or regain alignment. How can you fix those issues before good people leave?

• Figure it out. Ask disengaged employees what’s not right that used to be right?
• Lay it out. Tell them about the four reasons behind quitting to determine theirs.
• Level it out. Take steps to help them stay in, step up, regain control or get aligned.

Turnover doesn’t have to be difficult. When you know why people want to quit, you can stop them from quitting.

More Resources

As always, this episode of HRMorning’s 3-Point focuses on a topic close to our readers’ hearts: turnover.

It’s important because employee turnover is expensive: In 2025, it could cost between 50% and four times that person’s annual salary, depending on the role and level of experience, according to research from Applauz.

That can be divided into two categories: direct and hidden. Direct costs include the time and money spent recruiting and hiring new employees, onboarding, training, and missed sales quotas. Hidden costs are indirect — for example, dips in employee morale, productivity declines, and knowledge losses.

We have many more resources for you to explore:

• The Real Cost of Employee Turnover Now
• Bad Managers Cause Turnover: 5 Tips to Prevent It
• Can HR Really Prevent Turnover? Yes – and Here’s How
• How To – and Why You Should – Calculate Turnover Rate