Published on: July 8, 2025 at 9:41 pm
Some traditional views on employee turnover have become outdated. Organizations’ leaders can rethink employee departures as an opportunity to instill loyalty in remaining valued personnel rather than chalking them up as unremediated losses.
Academy of Management Scholar Carol Kulik of the University of South Australia said that a new shift in employment thinking introduces the idea of employment as a dynamic relationship. Some turnover is unavoidable and even healthy for an organization, if employers can create a new kind of relationship with an exiting employee.
“We need to accept that employees are going to move in and out of organizations more frequently,” Kulik said. “It’s probably more valuable for organizations to think about how they maintain connections with employees across an entire ecosystem.”
In the past, most notably the post-World-War-II era, organizations often held onto people as tightly as possible. Turnover rates were closely monitored, and managers were held accountable for employee departures. But times are changing, and she recommends that organizations recognize the implications for their recruitment and retention policies.
“An employee who isn’t finding what they need in your organization may still be valuable when they move to another employer,” Kulik said.
“We’re seeing in our literature a great interest in employee alumni, for example: when an employee leaves your organization, they might be going to a supplier, or they could still be a customer, or they could be an ambassador,” she said.
Kulik referenced the Chicago-based business Jellyvision, which had successfully implemented a “graceful leaving” policy.
“On your very first day, managers talk to you about when you’re likely to leave and what would lead to an exit,” Kulik said. “They’ll even give you time off for interviews because they know you can’t spend your entire career in Jellyvision.”
That company’s exit policy focuses on how they can support employees who are looking to leave. That unique approach may attract talented candidates and possibly even boomerang employees. Even if departed personnel never return, they’ll be more likely to speak well of the company to others, bolstering its reputation.
“Employers are starting to wake up to the idea that we want to maintain relationships with employees even when they leave us,” Kulik said.
