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Turnover

Early signals before an employee resigns: what HR often misses

The Spektrum Visi Solusi team · · 6 min read

A resignation letter almost always feels sudden to the company, but rarely to the person writing it. There is usually a long phase where they were already tired, unheard, or losing direction. In that phase there is still a chance to put things right.

Three things to tell apart

First, team signals: patterns visible in a division. Second, process signals: working habits that are broken, such as 1-on-1s that are not happening. Third, individual signals. For HR, the first two are far safer and far more useful. Guessing who "will resign" from personal behavior is error-prone and erodes trust.

Team signals worth noticing

  • Reported workload rising for several weeks in a row.
  • Priorities that keep changing without explanation, so work feels pointless.
  • Check-ins or 1-on-1s becoming less frequent, or always cancelled.
  • The team stops raising objections in meetings; everyone seems to "agree" but nobody takes initiative.
  • The same complaint arriving from several different people through anonymous channels.

Why exit interviews come too late

An exit interview explains why people left, after the decision was made. It is useful for learning, but it cannot save someone who has already gone. Early signals give you a chance to act before that point.

How to respond without spying

  1. Start from patterns, not names. Open the conversation with the manager about the division's themes.
  2. Ask, do not accuse. "We see workload rising in this team, how can we help?"
  3. Fix the system first: priorities, capacity, 1-on-1 habits.
  4. Measure again a few weeks later to see whether the pattern has shifted.

The cost of losing people

The cost of replacing an employee is often estimated at half to twice annual salary, but that figure comes from research estimates outside Indonesia and depends heavily on the role. Use it as a rough picture, then calculate with your own company's numbers.

The estimate calculator on the RekanSapa home page lets you change every one of those assumptions. The result is material for discussion, not a promise.

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