Last evening, I sat alone in my tent at Dream Garden, watching the sunset paint the sky orange and pink. The cool breeze felt peaceful, but my mind wandered back 11 years to 2014 — the year I started my first business.
By early 2015, after just nine months, everything fell apart. My business closed. My savings were gone. And my team? They had all left, one by one. This painful ending led me to a tough realization.
That failure taught me the most expensive lesson of my life: why good employees quit. To understand how things went so wrong, I kept asking myself the same question.
The Question That Haunted Me
As employees kept leaving, I kept asking myself: “I’m paying them fairly. Why are they still quitting?” I was angry. I felt betrayed. I thought they were ungrateful. But the truth? The problem wasn’t them. It was me.
Why Employees Leave (Even With a Good Salary)
Here’s what I learned the hard way. Why employees quit, even with a good salary, has almost nothing to do with money. People leave because of how they feel at work.
Let me share the nine painful mistakes I made that drove away every good person on my team.
1. I Had No Clear Direction
My team never knew where we were going. I changed plans constantly based on my mood that day. One week, we focused on customers. The next week, I wanted to cut costs. Then I’d change everything again.
My servers became kitchen helpers. My kitchen staff took payments. Everyone did everything.
It was chaos. Nobody understood their role because I kept moving them around like chess pieces.
Leadership lesson: Employees need to know where the ship is sailing. Without direction, they feel lost and eventually jump off.
2. No Clear Roles and Responsibilities
I still remember when one employee told me, “Boss, sometimes five of us do the same job. When something goes wrong, nobody knows who’s responsible.”
That hit hard, but I didn’t listen then.
When everyone is responsible for everything, nobody is responsible for anything. Tasks fell through the cracks. Mistakes multiplied. Blame went in circles.
This is how poor management causes business failure. Confusion kills productivity.
3. I Never Appreciated Anyone
My employees worked 12-hour shifts. They stayed late. They came in early. They tried their best.
And what did I say? Nothing.
I never thanked them. I never noticed their effort. I only pointed out mistakes.
I thought: “I’m paying them. That’s appreciation enough.”
I was wrong. Everyone wants to feel seen and valued. A simple “thank you” costs nothing but means everything.
4. No Growth or Training Opportunities
Good employees want to grow. They want to learn new skills. They want promotions and career paths.
I offered none of that.
My thinking was simple: “I pay you a salary. You do the work. That’s the deal.”
But talented people don’t think that way. They need challenges. They need growth. When they can’t find it, why employees leave becomes obvious — they find better opportunities elsewhere.
5. Hard Work Didn’t Matter
At first, my team was excited. They gave 100% effort.
But after a few months, they realized something: working hard or doing the bare minimum resulted in the same outcome. No rewards. No recognition. No consequences.
So they stopped trying. They showed up and did the minimum. Who could blame them?
How to manage employees properly: Ensure effort and results are linked to rewards. People need to see that hard work matters.
6. I Used Authority, Not Respect
Whenever there was a problem, I’d say: “I’m the boss. Do what I say.”
I thought being tough made me a strong leader. Actually, it made me a bad leader.
I never asked for opinions. I never listened to concerns. My way or the highway.
Good employees don’t quit jobs. They quit bosses who don’t respect them.
7. Toxic Team Culture
My workplace became negative. People gossiped. They complained behind each other’s backs. Some employees fought openly.
And me? I ignored it. I thought: “As long as the work gets done, I don’t care.”
But why do good employees often quit? It comes down to one thing: the environment. Talented people won’t stay in toxic places, no matter how much you pay them.
8. Too Much Work, Zero Support
I kept adding more tasks without adding more help. My team was drowning.
“Can you stay an extra hour?”
“Can you work this weekend?”
“Can you handle one more table?”
I never asked if they were okay. I never checked if they were tired or stressed.
This is one of the biggest leadership mistakes: thinking people are machines that can work endlessly without breaking down.
They can’t. They burned out. And then they left.
9. I Had No Management System
This was my biggest failure. I had no system for:
- Hiring the right people
- Training them properly
- Measuring their performance
- Giving feedback
- Solving problems
- Creating a positive culture
I was just reacting to problems every day, putting out fires, and making random decisions.
Best leadership lessons for entrepreneurs: Systems matter more than hustle. Without proper people-management systems, even the best employees won’t stay.
What I Wish I Knew Then
Looking back now, I understand something important: good employees don’t leave companies. They leave bad managers.
I was a bad manager.
I cared about profits, not people. I cared about tasks, not the team. I wanted results, but I gave no support.
And one by one, my best people walked away.
The Lessons That Changed Everything
After my business collapsed, I spent years learning how to manage employees the right way. Here’s what actually works:
- Give clear direction. People need to know where they’re going and why it matters.
- Define roles clearly. Everyone should know exactly what they’re responsible for.
- Appreciate effort. Say thank you. Celebrate wins. Recognize hard work publicly.
- Invest in growth. Offer training, mentorship, and clear paths for promotion.
- Measure fairly. Reward high performers. Address poor performers. Make it obvious that effort matters.
- Lead with respect. Listen to your team. Value their opinions. Treat them like humans, not tools.
- Build a positive culture. Create an environment where people enjoy coming to work.
- Support your people. Check in on them. Ask how they’re doing. Don’t overload them without help.
- Build systems. Create processes for hiring, training, feedback, and problem-solving.
Why This Matters to You
If you’re a business owner, team leader, or entrepreneur, please learn from my mistakes.
Why employees leave isn’t usually about salary. It’s about feeling undervalued, unsupported, and directionless.
Don’t lose your best people the way I did. Don’t wait until your business collapses to realize that people are your most valuable asset.
Take care of them. Support them.
Lead them well. Because at the end of the day, your business is only as strong as the people who show up every day to build it with you.
My Hope for You
As I sat in that tent watching the sunset, I felt grateful. Grateful for the failure that taught me these lessons. Grateful for the pain that made me a better leader.
If you’re struggling with employee turnover right now, I hope this helps. You don’t have to make the same mistakes I did.
Learn from my failure. Build something better. And most importantly — take care of your people.
Because when you do, they’ll take care of your business.
What’s your biggest challenge with managing employees? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
