You’re having trouble finding - hiring - or keeping great talent {{first_name}}
Entry-level turnover is usually blamed on pay, workload, or “this generation.”
But that’s not what the data shows.
According to research from Gallup, New hires who don’t feel clear about expectations within their first 90 days are up to seven times more likely to leave within their first year.
That’s not about pay. It’s about experience, clarity, and connection - early.
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In practice, here’s what that looks like:
A new team member thinks they almost understand expectations
They wait to ask a question because they don’t want to look unprepared
Minor uncertainties slowly erode confidence
Confidence becomes disengagement before anyone knows why
Not because leaders don’t care.
But because leaders assume they’re being experienced the way they intend to be.
In reality, small moments compound:
Instructions feel clear to the leader, vague to the employee
Expectations feel “understood,” but never explicitly named
Feedback arrives late, or only when something goes wrong
From the leader’s side, everything feels reasonable.
From the employee’s side, it feels uncertain.
And that uncertainty is one of the strongest predictors of early turnover.
Surveys come too late.
Exit interviews explain the ending, not the beginning.
By the time churn shows up in the data, the experience problem has already done its work.
So here’s the real question worth asking:
Where do new hires hesitate instead of asking?
Where do managers assume clarity instead of checking for it?
If you’re a leader—how are you actually being experienced in those first critical weeks?
One of the most effective ways I’ve seen organizations uncover these gaps is through live leadership diagnostics - where how leadership lands becomes visible in real time, not retrospectively.
Food for thought.
— Brian
PS: If this made you think of a specific team or moment, that’s usually a signal - not a coincidence.
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