Read enough exit interviews and a pattern appears. Many of them say the same thing.
"A better package elsewhere."
It is true, as far as it goes. There was an offer, and it was better. But in my experience the offer is rarely why the rep started looking. It is what they found once they did.
What sits underneath is usually quieter.
- No growth, and nobody asking what they wanted next.
- Feedback that only came at appraisal time.
- The same territory, the same calls, year after year, with no new challenge.
And it started months before the resignation. In a one-to-one that got cancelled. In a question nobody asked.
People are polite on the way out. "Nothing personal." "Time for a change." They want a good reference and a clean exit, so the easy reason goes on the form.
I do not blame the market or the money for every resignation any more. When a good rep leaves, I ask myself three things. When did I last talk to them about their future? When did I last give them something new to learn? Would they have told me they were unhappy?
“By the time the offer arrives, the decision to look was made months ago.”
Lesson 12 of 12 in Step 7: Hiring and onboarding, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.