Why Do Most Organizations Fail to Retain Talents?

If you've ever been a middle manager, you've probably experienced pressure from both directions.

You are expected to manage upward—meeting your leaders' expectations—while also managing your own team. Both demand different things, and both expect results.

To deliver those results, you need exceptional people. You look for employees who are highly skilled, proactive, results-oriented, and able to work at pace.

I found one.

The quality of work was excellent, and I was genuinely satisfied with the outcomes.

However, within the next six months, my calendar became filled with one-to-one meetings.

The conversations began with requests for company sponsorship for training, professional certifications, and development programmes. Fortunately, our organisation invests in employee development and allocates a learning budget. Some requests were approved as part of our employees' development benefits. However, the budget had to be distributed fairly across the team rather than concentrated on one individual.

Soon after came another request. This time for a promotion, including both a higher job grade and a salary increase.

We wanted to support the employee, but promotions require a structured assessment. Like many organisations, we follow a performance calibration process to ensure fairness, consistency, and transparency. Naturally, these decisions take time.

Before the process could be completed, the employee began exploring opportunities elsewhere.

External job offers soon became part of the conversation, creating additional pressure during salary discussions. While we do make retention offers for high-performing talent, we also consider the broader employment relationship not just performance, but behaviours and long-term commitment.

In this case, we viewed the pattern of repeated demands and the use of competing offers as leverage as a sign of high maintenance. Eventually, the external offer became the deciding factor, and the employee resigned.

Retaining high-performing employees is important, but not at any cost. The real question is whether they continue to create long-term value for the organisation.

Performance alone is not enough

When outstanding capability is consistently accompanied by a lack of commitment, it raises questions about reliability, trust, and long-term fit. Technical excellence can be developed, but integrity and commitment are much harder to replace.

So, did the organisation fail to retain its talent?

Perhaps.

But perhaps not.

Social media often portrays talent retention as a simple equation: if employees leave, the company must have failed. Poor leadership, inadequate compensation, limited career progression, or an unhealthy culture are all valid reasons people choose to move on.

Yet reality is more nuanced.

Retention is a two-way commitment.

Organisations have a responsibility to create an environment where people can grow, feel valued, and be fairly rewarded. Employees, in turn, have a responsibility to demonstrate commitment, professionalism, and trust throughout that relationship.

Not every resignation is evidence of organisational failure.

Sometimes, people simply outgrow the organisation. Sometimes, another opportunity is genuinely better. And sometimes, despite an organisation's best efforts, the relationship is no longer the right fit for either party.

So, why do most organisations fail to retain talent?

Maybe they don't.

Maybe the real challenge isn't retaining every talented employee.

Maybe it's recognising which talent is truly worth retaining—for both the organisation and the individual.

Nia Janira is a seasoned professional. She holds a Bachelor's degree in International Relations (2018) and an Executive Master's degree in Management from BINUS University (2024). She is currently pursuing a Master of Science at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford (2025 - 2027).

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