Why Do Top Performers Leave? Can You Stop Them?

[@LeadershipwithMike]

Everyone in management could benefit from my FREE e-book www.mikeashie.com/opt-in I share my 14 tips that I wish someone told me. Even if you think you know it all... just 1 of these tips could help immensely! Click the link, sign up and get your copy today👍🏻 Getcha Kaffee and enjoy the read ☕️

[@mzilg]

Are you Canadian? 🤓👍

[@LeadershipwithMike]

Haha... I sure am... can you easily tell?

[@mzilg]

@@LeadershipwithMike Lol! I wouldn't say easily. I noticed it after having watched a few of your videos and paying attention to your speech. I teach English and am naturally observant to how people say stuff. I was raised by a "grammar nazi." 😝👍

[@LeadershipwithMike]

Haha... ya... I say what I say... definitely not one to follow for proper grammar lol

[@mzilg]

@@LeadershipwithMike Oh you're fine there. I was just noticing how you pronounced the English vowels. I watched this video and some others of yours right after teaching an ESL (English as a Second Language) class. So I was hyper sensitive to pronunciation. Lol. 😅

[@anniesshenanigans3815]

without watching.. I can tell you.. not being appreciated, not being told thank you, and ONLY being told when you make a mistake. When you do a lot more than the norm, they just give you more to do and expect it as the norm.

[@LeadershipwithMike]

Yup... you “get” it 🍻

[@ryanlouk9565]

Thats one of the biggest reasons I left my last job.

[@OscarGonzalez-by8po]

That is why im planning on quitting

[@Jenjenn1111]

Yep

[@stopmocking]

Yup. 100%

[@fliegendewolke5791]

Most of the times (or sometimes, i don't have the statistics), the high performer isn't even recognized. First step would therefore be to recognize who the top performer is.

[@LeadershipwithMike]

Facts!

[@GroUp512]

As a leader, I made it a goal to always have top performers leave my team through job promotions. This would often inspired others on the team to step up.

[@LeadershipwithMike]

💯 as people we NEED goals... and top performers really need them lol. Otherwise they can become disengaged.

[@jasonchien6622]

Lol meaning u dont promote them so they decide to leave because you are not that great of a leader. You sound like my director that gas-lighted me for years until i left without warning or signs and they are left dumbfounded

[@LeadershipwithMike]

I don’t think this is the negative way… it’s that you promote people and help them develop… then they choose to move on to bigger opportunities and as a leader you can feel great knowing you had a little hand in their growth… think of Lebron James high school coach… he helped as much as he could. He can feel a little pride in every championship Lebron wins

[@GroUp512]

Jason, sounds frustrating. One of the main reasons staff leave a job is due to lack of opportunity and feeling undervalued. To Mike’s point bosses/coaches should be developing talent to move up and on. A bad boss will use the prospect of a promotion to string talent along.

[@jasonchien6622]

@@LeadershipwithMike I might of came off a lil strong so for that I apologize. My point is that reasons why people leave is usually written on the walls. Therefore, if you are a leader that are genuine when a employee moves onto another company or role kudos to you. However, if you had to ASK why people are leaving, or if you had the opportunity to promote from within and did not then shame on you. Im sure my director would LOVE to tell people how I moved onto another company as a testament to her leadership abilities. Manipulative delusional clowns. Real leaders dont need to TELL people how they are helping them, it should have been validated by the employees' feedback instead.

[@tarekelkamel8642]

And most of the time،, if they decide to leave , you will be surprised by a resignation letter on your desk. Such decision is generally final and not negotiable

[@LeadershipwithMike]

It absolutely is. And the fact it would be a shock is sad... but true.

[@theicemaiden5816]

Managers usually use the top performers to make the lazy people look good for the promotion (usually they're the favorites because the lazy people are not a threat)

[@avgholson8143]

All of that 💯

[@karamwadi7009]

I can relate to this. For the past 5 years I have been doing some of my colleagues tasks because 2 of them don't get along for personal reasons and whenever our jobs overlap they dump their work on me because they don't want to deal with each other. Been working 1-2 additional hours every day and no breaks and sometimes weekends. In addition they are both paid more than me. Our boss doesnt care much as long as clients are invoiced at the end of the day. So yeah been applying for jobs outside the company.

[@premiums2459]

That happened to me. I worked at a job(won’t specify) and I worked there for more than two years, yet I am not promoted but I was a top performer because everyone relied on me even the ones who were promoted even if they don’t deserve it. It came to a point where I didn’t care anymore since work became toxic. I don’t show up late, but not too early either. I shut my phone off when I go home everyday and during my rest days, I only on my phone late afternoon or even evening to avoid calls to show up to work even if they are short staffed. Management had favoritism. A month after I left, the ones who got promoted stole money and got fired. They deserved it.

[@leadertolead8652]

premiums 2: are you in a better workplace now? Are you recognised?

[@premiums2459]

@@leadertolead8652 I wish, but due to the COVID situation around the world I got layoff.

[@latrissaakabutterfly4476]

Listening to the first reason speaks volume about me. I feel I’m overworked and I am a hardworking and take on challenges without proper training. I became proactive and learned my job on my own. This exact thing happened to me. How do I proceed with handling this? I can tell you my nose is not brown and my lips do not pucker. This manager did exactly what you said trying to give me a project due to the lack of my peer performance. I did feel shutdown on telling him my career development because it was something I wanted to do and not something he wanted me to do. The fourth reason is also apart of what I’m going through. He does have favorites and they actually do less and gets paid for a job description that they don’t do.

[@user-rx7th9hr4l]

It's been happing to me same , exactly... same

[@maxalberts2003]

Top performers leave because we aren't recognized, either via salary recognition or fringe/health benefits. Because pension plans no longer exist. Because paid vacation time no longer exists. It's elementary: MONEY TALKS.

[@alvaro5310]

I got tired to see my team mates not doing anything and I always doing all . My manager didn’t care to find me help to hire a person with my skills.

[@JustSomeDude-x1i]

Top performers (ie employees topping all objective metrics), get gaslighted and told they're not performing. The numbers say they are, but management "feels" differently. It's a problem.

[@saraimontes5338]

I’m not a manager but these are exactly the reasons I want to quit my job

[@LeadershipwithMike]

I feel you 🤛🏻

[@emmi4638]

True! I'm a top performer and bored out of my mind. The tasks that I do are mindless and not challenging one bit. There is no training or developing opportunities so shockingly I am looking for another Job.

[@jacquelinesmith6712]

I have just discovered this video and I am a high performer in the housekeeping department at a hospital. I always have the floor that I work on done early and I am getting called upon by my supervisors a lot. I don't mind when I have everything done that needs to be done so I can keep myself preoccupied. However, my coworkers look at each other asking themselves why the supervisor calls me a lot and wanted to say something to prevent me from being burned out. I currently feel that I am not being challenged enough. The difference is that my pay is good and my management team does appreciate me and that my efforts are being recognized, however, my coworkers are beginning to resent me and I feel very isolated from them. Update: I am looking for other opportunities elsewhere and am at the point where I am ready to leave. It's becoming too stressful and anxiety has been higher lately. The work load just keeps piling up on me and is dragging me down significantly. Once I have another job lined up I'll be giving my two weeks. It will be costly to them, but in the end I have myself to look out for.

[@LeadershipwithMike]

Something to consider… a challenge outside of work. I started this channel.. and while I was working my mind was able to think, plan, focus on things for the channel. Just an idea

[@dings215]

ugh... as a pleb this whole vid reminded me why I hate being a top performer. I'm in a specialty sales support position of 5 people... I do 65% of the work in my team and pull in 71% of all new bookings (double digit millions annual for the last 5 years)... next closest person to me does 20% of the workload... and is friends with the boss... so they earn more and I get her work. haven't had a one on one with a boss in 9 months. I'm already looking and I know when I give notice it'll be a shock to management.

[@stephaneguis7157]

Hello. I just subscribed a few moments ago, and I already see myself binging on your videos! Plenty of respect for what you do sir. I truly appreciate what you do, and appreciate more what I do as well.

[@LeadershipwithMike]

Welcome! Binge away my friend !

[@xlerb2286]

For ~30 years in the software development field I was a top performer. I was always one of the go-to people, one of the people called in to fix the hard problems, etc. The main reasons I left companies, and I only left 4 companies during my whole career, were either a lack of appreciation, ranging from the lack of simple appreciation for the work I was doing all the way through not following through on raises/promotions, or being told to do work that was completely outside the area I'd joined the company to perform and was written into my employment agreement as what I would be doing. My leaving always seemed to come as a surprise to management, while coworkers would be saying "I don't understand why you stayed as long as you did".

[@user-rx7th9hr4l]

It's so spot on, 100%, i am in that situation

[@caveman3021]

The overworking scenario has always been my pet peeve. I found my weekends were often stolen as "they needed me" When I bring to their attention that I've put in five days already, call some of the others in, they will always say "but your the best that's why we phone you". At one time I actually bought this, but now I just tell them."If you want that to continue...I need my down time respected". I'm not above doing someone a favor if they're stuck, but I also often find once the assistance is offered once or twice ,they are always stuck. In that case I'm not helping, but just enabling bad habits. This was a great video, as I saw a lot of my workplace in it Thanks for posting!😃👍

[@panoptic50]

My current manager is a C-level executive and I can tell you there are many areas that he needs to improve but I fear that no one above him gives a crap if he is a good manager or not. I don't necessarily want to look for another job, so I'm not sure what I should do and who to talk to about it. Also, this is top-notch content!

[@LeadershipwithMike]

Thank you 👍🏻 Check any video description... I offer an anonymous service to deliver videos to people... you may have guessed you are NOT the only one lol

[@leadertolead8652]

Which area should your manager improve more? The one that would give you the "peace of mind", the most important in your opinion that would positively impact on you.

[@Superrradical42]

Because I had experience leading a team of 12 in a different field, and saw the easy-peasy-no-breezy ways to enhance the teams efficiency, but instead the new “manager” saw me as a hindrance to his ideas, instead of a source of experience and knowledge.

[@istvanpraha]

Quitting and writing my replacements job description and it seems fake and passive aggressive like I’m setting up a person to fail. But I’m not! I worked myself to death and my lazy coworker promoted my coworker and I was told to grow up when I complained about it

[@thetimepeoplestory996]

Those big guys in the company who make the rules with obvious employee ranking, they have very good incoming package such as super high salary, top class offers when traveling, very good pension from company after retired and stocks of the company. While for most of the low ranked employees, they only have basic salary and maybe small bonus ,how could they demonstrate to the employees to work hard. No way!

[@ragedpuma7564]

I always tried to be top performer at all of my jobs. I felt I was one of the good workers, at the very least. I was promised a couple of promotions and would be trained to do the tasks and expected to get it all done, but never got the title or the pay. except for once, but only by default. I did all the extra work, plus my work, came in on my days off, came in early, stayed late, picked up slack, everything. I came to realize that because I was so valuable at a lower level, they would most likely never put me in a higher position. I've watched the worst employees get the promotions I was promised. never got a reason as to why I was trained to know the position, expected to work the tasks every day and did well, but didn't get it, and now I have to train someone else who barely shows up let alone works to do it? I left my last job almost 2 years ago and after being let down, overworked, underpaid, overlooked, bullied, and harassed, I have completely lost myself and my confidence.

[@QwertyUiop-xd8tb]

I hope you have recovered.

[@ragedpuma7564]

@@QwertyUiop-xd8tb I'm not sure I ever will. I'd rather not be alive than have to work with or for anyone again. Still am not working in a traditional sense and I don't have any plans or desire to go back for the rest of my days. Lol. I love my freedom and the fact I can live my life without being a slave and I plan to keep it this way.

[@tarekelkamel8642]

May I add : you need to show them that you trust their work and decions when you need informations and clarification just ask them direcltly and honestly so they wiIl provide you the reasons of their choices and share data based on which they took decsions. Do not by pass them and try to get confirmation feedback and apprasial from other colleagues about their work and quality of their decisons as they will perceive that as if you consider them as not reliable and as a debious persons . they will not bear that way of jugging them and cast doubt on their commitment and honesty.

[@DanielHYNg]

Thank you for all the 7 tips. Everyone in the management level will face this situation in their career pathway.

[@samueldesmondtuah1421]

Money. But also good performance punishment (when I perform so well and I am asked to do more work, sometimes being asked to assist other people with projects. Assist is a nice way of saying. Normally I end up leading it. This was true in when I was in Academia)

[@jasantana]

All I want is a promotion with more room for growth that reflects the duties and responsibilities I've added after five years proving year over year I'm a top-performer and what makes it worse when a companies gets your hopes up when you have a manager who goes to bat for me and manage to help me get pay increase but always some story when it came to promotion for career advancement with HR and his management, he left back and with this new manager he comes across as someone who wants to go to bat for me (playing the role of a good manager but is it veneer?) yet the same song as before according to his story with HR and his management... I believe I'm the problem by staying because familiarity and comfort of the company but if I keep this up I know it will be detrimental to my career development (already is in some respect).

[@robertwhite1028]

They like the lazy slackers, they aren't a threat for promotion

[@rosenjoroge9373]

😂😂 and the mouthy ones too

[@AK-47ISTHEWAY]

0:25 I'm not replaceable. I own my own business and have no employees. So if something happens to me the business is over with.

[@LeadershipwithMike]

Lol. I hear what you’re saying lol. That said... you can easily be replaced by the customer. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@flaguser4196]

another is draconian IP rules while the top performer has high creativity and can get things done alone (or no one is skilled enough to concretely help anyway).

[@razarraz8276]

I wouldn't say I'm the "best" but I'm definitely a "top performer" in the jobs I do. I know I'm replaceable but at the same time I'm not replaceable because very few people are as trustworthy and have the same work ethic as me. I've been lucky my 8yr long working career that I've always had great bosses. In my current job my boss wants me to stay after the end of my contract but I'm not going too. I don't like the way some things are done here, it is too over the top for the type of service we provide (I've done other jobs in the same field that things differently -in my eyes better for doing less- abs ice spoken to my boss about it but he won't change anything, so I have to leave to find somewhere else I agree with)

[@jmum189]

Why are they a top performer? Usually because they want to get somewhere. When they consistently watch others getting promoted then they go.

[@MrJennyad]

I feel like sometimes its only the customers that see my value. My manager just enjoys the cocky people who hardly pay attention to detail. Whats the point of having a job when you're never going to be appreciated no matter where you go. I just quit 2 jobs recently because like you said in the video I was bored and had no challenge in my job and I came forward about trying something else and they won't even let me TRY, but promote someone else or hire someone who is inexperienced and give them the chance. My second job I quit because I was way over worked and they expect me to work like a machine and forget I'm only one person and I'm just trying my best and still get my work done even if it isn't at their timing, but NOPE they don't want to take accountability they are cutting corners rather than to have a bigger team to accommodate the overwhelming work. They would tell me I'm not confident enough, well HELL why am I still here if I dont fit the requirements???? it's like they get a kick out of breaking someone down than bringing them up. Rather than thinking about LOGICAL solutions to the problem. They always just tell me its because I can't handle it. Yes, I can handle it but I can't handle being abused.

[@hunterjohnson9144]

No Patrick, being given more work and forced to cross train in positions your employee hates when they like the position they’re in is not a reward

[@portraitrick]

I've been a manager for under 4 months and lost a top performer last night. From talking to the other associates It was because of them seeing a few that slack at work all the time and when I come back to where they are, they start working and I havent seen most of what I was told about them. I'm lost.

[@LeadershipwithMike]

Start paying attention. Not looking for slackers but confirming one way or another

[@bronwynhanford9424]

I had to pick up the slack and there was no challenge at all. I had to leave.

[@HENROCK202]

great message brother. thanks

[@williamsmith8041]

Maybe they are leaving because they are in the same situation I'm in,your boss tells you to do something and your boss's boss tells you to do something different and you can't please both

[@STMARTIN009]

Did you talk to you direct boss and tell the person the big boss said do it differently? You have to speak up.

[@SnowLeopardForever]

Yes, everyone is replaceable. But will you be able to replace a top performer with someone else who is also a top performer as good or better than the previous person (ie top performer). In my experience, NO, top performers are rare. Very rare. I am one, and at every job I have ever been at I always get “you are the best (fill in the blank) we have ever had.” Then some form of the phrases “Don’t leave!” and “What can we do to make you stay?” And the whole time, before that I would be voicing concerns and things that needed to change but they never listened. That is until I give my two week’s notice, then finally they want to listen. But by then, the time for that has passed, I am moving on now. Sad and true.

[@brentongreen2450]

Stop over working top performers. We are not responsible for carrying the workload for everyone. We care about work life balance and are unwilling to keep pushing so hard.

[@marklarsen4424]

I left my last job because I was given all of the work that no one wanted to do. Then to add insult to the process the CHILDREN were promoted and were trying to make me do their work. Everyone was shocked when I turned in my notice. I just said "LET THE CHILDREN FIX IT" I'm out! I can't live for a job, no one can.

[@nessamariel2375]

If someone could give me advice I would appreciate it. I was offered a job 3 months ago as a manager. I signed an offer letter stating I would start my position and in 30 days I would transition into the manager role. My boss explained to me that a current employee had expressed interest, and he did not feel at the time that person was ready. He told me he was worried if that employee knew I was going to be the manager that they would purposely not want to train me. I understood and signed the letter. 3 months later he sends out an email with the position listing and tells me I have to apply because he wants to show transparency. I do it and interview like everyone else. Now he’s telling me that there is going to be 2 managers myself being one of them. No announcement has been made or anything and he is giving me a new offer letter. I’m at a loss I love my job, but I’m not sure how to feel about this.

[@leadertolead8652]

Sorry to hear this, Nessa. Based on what did you get the original offer, if you did your interview later? Were you external, from the company perspective? I am asking this just to avoid that there was maybe a misunderstanding in the beginning... otherwise it is really not a nice way from the manager to handle this case. Why is your boss continuously distributing letter that later are overwritten by a new "offer". I can imagine that you feel in a way "betrayed"... And I can tell you, it is normal. If this helps, feel free to share this feeling with your boss, explaining also the reason why you feel like that. However, I would suggest you now to focus on the now... It is good to understand why this thing happened, just to avoid it in the future, maybe next time you could avoid "non transparent", strange offers. However, you have a situation now. Can you accept this situation? Can you learn and get a value from your current position, by managing the team with another manager? If this is the case, that is good. You can focus on this. If not: unfortunately maybe you will need to consider to search another opportunity. The treatment you received cannot be changed. Apparently has been done on purpose. Cannot be changed probably anymore, so you can just adapt to the situation or find your way in another organisation. I hope this helps, otherwise, let me know and we can have a chat. :)

[@eisenhower9069]

That's an indecisive boss.

[@timbmd]

MIke: you have good charisma!

[@LeadershipwithMike]

Some days yes... some days no... lol... but thx

[@Flexyourmemes]

Because the only rewards for hard work is more hard work. No raise or thank you. Just punishment in the form of more work and only constant negative feedback.

[@mspino5245]

He nailed it. This whole give the top performer all the work is for the birds. Meanwhile, underperformers get away with doing nothing. See ya!

[@caveman3021]

This falls under the "no good deed goes unpunished" category🙄

[@jvalenzuela5459]

Great video Mike!

[@LeadershipwithMike]

Thank you. 🍻

[@alzathoth]

i currently work in a shop where the women get paid more than the men in the same job. the women are afraid to get their hands dirty and stand around a lot and constantly need direction and supervision. the men have been there longer(have greater responsibility) and they still get paid less than the women. it truly makes me wonder what the owners of the company are thinking.

[@OrchidKiller]

Spot on 👍

[@sittingstill3578]

I know my coworkers are not working half as hard as me. They give backhanded compliments that my quality of work is “extra” or “more than anyone else would do.” I had my manager exclaim exasperated that a project I have done now for the third time was much better than the previous times. I was thinking to myself that it is nowhere near what I envisioned and completing it required no extra resources so what’s the issue? Then they changed everything and we had to recreate all our tools from scratch. Talk about a crushing workload. In the past six months I have had to create about 6000 items. Due to no time, I couldn’t even complete most of them to a level where I could try them out but they’re ready should the time present itself. It is so draining.

[@rosenjoroge9373]

Its even a bigger joke when appreciation goes to the person who does the least. Argh!

[@STMARTIN009]

That is what pisses me off most

[@mauriciocastro6363]

I'm currently a victim of poor leadership. I'm the top performer, I excel at all what I do much more compared to other colleagues at my same level (same pay) I bring tons of ideas, even more that what everybody could expect because of my extensive tears of experiece, more than 25. But I fel my leader is threatened. He promoted to lead engineers 2 guys one half y years of experience, the other 5 years less and lower academic degree. I know to do the job much better and moreefficienty than t e2 new leads, I'm more skilled to transfer the knwledge of how to do it to less experienced engineers. Nevertheless, I'm being kept doing the job instead of producing in a couple of years 2, 3 or 4 mini mes, boosting th eperformance of the team. I'm preparing to leave. Other engineers of my same level were hired without my advice, and some of them are lemons. Even lower level engineers are better thatn these lemons, thereis frustration and the morale is low.

[@nearsite]

You deserve more subs. I subbed.

[@LeadershipwithMike]

Right?!?!... lol... thank you for the sub.

[@benscott6826]

Pay, no growth, overwork, watching toxic culture acceptance, no clear expectations…

[@Cohen.the.Worrier]

Hey, if they don't leave, you can always fire them.

[@rancors1]

Top performers won't tolerate third rate bosses.

[@captainsunbear5472]

Ah yes i left a job where i was given all the work and this lazy coworker was bragging to me how he enjoys a special relationship with the boss and make more than me.

[@blankscreen3702]

I'm a top performer. I have grown the company I work for grow from 7 million per year to over 100 million per year. And next week I am out. They can kiss my ass.

[@visioneer55]

Top performer here… Peace out ✌️!!!!!

[@gavinelliot3564]

I have left numerous jobs/tired of carrying someone else's arse.next.T800Aust