Rethinking Retention: Why People Leave Great Jobs

How Leaders Can Coach Employees to Recognize and Harness Opportunities Within Their Current Roles

In the early 20th century, the poet Ovid captured a thinking trap that plagues corporate America now more than ever. In The Art of Love, he writes, “The harvest is always richer in another man’s field.” This notion that ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’ is a major reason people leave good organizations and good leaders. Most of us focus on the opportunities we don’t have, rather than those within us and within our reach.

The psychology of opportunity suggests that employees often overlook the opportunities they already possess, in pursuit of those ‘in another man’s field.’ We hear this in our language when discussing job opportunities, investment opportunities, and even growth opportunities—if only we could find them, if only we could get them, if only we had more of them, life would be good, and we would be fulfilled.

This mindset reflects a trap illuminated by psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky. Despite our constant pursuit of what we lack, Lyubomirsky’s research shows that beyond genetics, the majority of our happiness comes from how we think, feel, and act on what we already have. In other words, employees often miss the opportunities within their current roles because they are too focused on potential opportunities elsewhere.

The Rethinking Revolution

The answer to this conundrum is so valuable that it has inspired the emergence of a US$15 billion-plus industry—the professional coaching industry. Coaching, by design, helps people rethink their options, often uncovering the opportunities they already have.

Stephen Covey’s ‘Circle of Influence’ is a foundation of coaching. Even when people seek coaching to gain something from others—such as a promotion, prestige, or recognition—the real value lies in what coaching brings out in them: vision, confidence, purpose, and resilience.

Coaching is an opportunity magnifier. The more access we can provide to coaching, the more we can help our people harness the opportunities they already have, so they don’t leave great companies to chase down opportunities ‘on the other side.’

How to Leverage Coaching for Retention

You don’t need to make coaching available to every employee in your organization to harness its power. In fact, the best people to coach for retention aren’t external coaches—they’re leaders who coach.

When leaders adopt a coaching mindset, they can help employees both see and pursue opportunities within the company. Great leaders often see more potential in their people than their people see in themselves, and coaching conversations bring these insights to life.

Recognition of one’s potential is just the beginning. When employees get restless for more, a leader who coaches can help them explore ways to expand or shift their role. When employees encounter roadblocks, leaders who coach can help them rethink their frustrations and challenges. And when it feels easier to jump ship for opportunities elsewhere, leaders who coach can help employees navigate their current environment.

Certainly, there are times when an organization can no longer leverage all that an employee has to offer, but too often, great employees find it easier to grow professionally outside their organization than within it. Teaching leaders to coach is like filling your company with five-star guides—not the kind who tell people where to go, but those who help people see more opportunities than they ever imagined.

If You Don’t, Someone Else Will

We live in a world where almost anything, even a new job, is available at the click of a button. It’s almost too easy to find new opportunities, and applying for new positions is getting simpler by the day. When that doesn’t work out, employees can join the 49 percent of entrepreneurs who recently left corporations to work for themselves.

In an age when our brains are increasingly wired for immediate gratification, employees need leaders who are ready to help them consider their choices—including those right in front of them. By coaching employees to recognize and seize the opportunities within their current roles, leaders can retain talent, enhance job satisfaction, and ultimately drive organizational success.

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