Why your best employees are leaving and how to stop it - Culture Amp

Editorial verdict

Strong evidence. The retention data holds up across 300,000 employees. The methodology is sound and findings are specific enough to act on — particularly the predictive power of the two-year commitment question.

Executive summary

This study examined voluntary turnover among over 300,000 employees across 15 months to identify key departure predictors. Culture Amp's research team found three primary drivers of attrition: lack of career growth opportunities, misaligned role expectations, and insufficient inclusion. The analysis revealed that employees most valued by organizations (regrettable exits) were significantly more honest about their dissatisfaction in engagement surveys. The study's most significant finding was that asking employees directly about their future commitment ('I see myself still working at [Company] in two years') proved 2.7 times more predictive of turnover than other metrics. The research challenges conventional wisdom that employees primarily leave due to managers, instead pointing to systemic issues around growth, role clarity, and belonging. A 2021 update incorporating 100,000 additional exits during the Great Resignation confirmed these patterns while identifying enablement and access to information as an emerging driver.