Is Attrition the Product of Bad Managers or Culture Realignment?

Photo by Achim Ruhnau on Unsplash

Attrition: the corporate boogeyman that keeps HR execs up at night and shareholders gripping their pearls. Whenever a resignation letter lands, someone in the boardroom murmurs, “It’s the managers.” Others counter, “It’s culture realignment.”

Spoiler alert: it’s both — and neither. Attrition isn’t the problem; it’s a symptom. Like a fever, it’s what happens when the body of your organization fights a deeper infection. Let’s unpack this.

The Manager Blame Game

Managers are the frontline infantry of corporate warfare. They’re the ones who hear the excuses for missed deadlines, the whispered complaints about pay, and the all-too-familiar “I’m just not feeling challenged here.” It’s easy to point the finger at them when someone quits. After all, Gallup tells us that 75% of employees leave managers, not companies. The math checks out, right?

Wrong. Let’s stop treating managers like they’re omnipotent deities responsible for everything from employee engagement to the office Wi-Fi. Managers are working within a system — a system designed by senior leadership. If your managers are burning out their teams, it’s probably because their bosses are burning them out, too.

Bad managers often aren’t born; they’re made. Under-training, overloading, and micromanaging from above turn what could be effective leaders into middle-management disasters. When you saddle managers with impossible metrics and then critique them for not being “people-focused,” you create a perfect storm of mediocrity and frustration.

So, is attrition the fault of bad managers? Partly. But if you’re not equipping managers with the tools and autonomy they need to succeed, the blame game starts with the C-suite, not the corner cubicle.

Culture Realignment: The Corporate Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card

Then there’s the other scapegoat: culture realignment. Whenever a mass exodus hits, leadership loves to trot out phrases like, “We’re redefining our values,” or, “This is part of our strategic pivot.” Translation: “We’re changing, and not everyone’s on board.”

Culture realignment isn’t inherently bad. In fact, it’s often necessary. Businesses evolve. What worked when your company was a scrappy startup doesn’t always work when you’re a billion-dollar juggernaut. The problem arises when leadership doesn’t communicate the “why” behind the change.

Employees can smell insincerity like a dog sniffing out contraband. If your culture realignment is just a fancy term for “We need to cut costs and boost margins,” you’ll lose people faster than you can say, “We’re a family.” And here’s the kicker: the people who leave first are usually your best and brightest — the ones who can easily find greener pastures.

Culture realignment isn’t just about a new mission statement or fresh paint on the office walls. It’s about creating an environment where people feel connected to a shared purpose. If you fail to articulate that purpose — or if the purpose feels hollow — attrition isn’t just a possibility; it’s a certainty.

The Real Culprit: Misalignment Between Values and Actions

The tug-of-war between bad managers and culture realignment misses the bigger picture: alignment. People stay at companies where their values align with the organization’s actions. When there’s a disconnect — say, preaching work-life balance while rewarding 80-hour weeks — people start packing their bags.

Take this example: a company announces a culture of “innovation” but continues to punish risk-taking and failure. Employees quickly learn that the culture isn’t what’s written on the posters in the break room; it’s what’s rewarded and tolerated in practice.

The same goes for managers. If your culture is cutthroat, guess what kind of managers you’ll attract and retain? If it’s collaborative, your managers will likely reflect that. Culture and management aren’t separate entities; they’re two sides of the same coin.

Attrition spikes when the promises you make during recruitment — about growth, inclusion, or stability — don’t match the reality of the workplace. This bait-and-switch leaves employees disillusioned and disengaged. And once they check out mentally, it’s only a matter of time before they check out physically.

Fix the Roots, Not Just the Symptoms

So, what’s the solution? Start by ditching the binary blame. It’s not just bad managers or culture realignment; it’s a systemic issue that requires systemic solutions.

1. Empower Managers: Stop treating managers like middlemen and start treating them like leaders. Invest in leadership training. Give them the authority to make decisions without running everything up the chain of command. If you expect managers to retain top talent, give them the tools to be effective and human.
2. Authentic Culture Realignment: If you’re realigning culture, be transparent about why. Is it about adapting to market trends? Improving customer satisfaction? Cutting costs? Employees can handle the truth. What they can’t handle is spin.
3. Value-Action Alignment: Audit your organization’s actions against its stated values. If you say you value diversity but your leadership team looks like a 1990s country club, employees will notice. If you tout flexibility but frown at remote work requests, they’ll notice that too.
4. Feedback Loops: Attrition doesn’t happen in a vacuum. People talk before they walk. Exit interviews are reactive; pulse surveys and stay interviews are proactive. Listen to your employees before they make it to LinkedIn’s “Open to Work” filter.
5. Redefine Success Metrics: If your only measure of success is profit, you’ll inevitably sacrifice people on the altar of quarterly earnings. Consider metrics like employee engagement, retention of high performers, and even manager satisfaction. What gets measured gets managed.

The Bottom Line

Attrition isn’t just about bad managers or culture realignment; it’s about misalignment. Misalignment between what you say and what you do, between the values you espouse and the behaviors you reward. Fix that, and attrition becomes less of a boogeyman and more of a manageable challenge.

The best companies understand that people don’t just work for paychecks; they work for meaning, growth, and respect. Get those right, and you won’t just reduce attrition — you’ll build loyalty. And loyalty, unlike culture or management styles, is priceless.

So, is attrition the product of bad managers or culture realignment? Neither. It’s the product of systemic failure to align values, actions, and leadership. Fix that, and maybe the next time someone leaves, it’ll be because they’re retiring at 40, not because they’re running for the exit.