rudhra

I've spent the last three months helping a Perth engineering firm figure out why their top performers keep leaving for what appear to be lateral moves with minimal salary increases.
The CEO was convinced it was about compensation packages. HR thought it was work-life balance. The department heads blamed unrealistic client expectations and impossible deadlines. Everyone had theories, but nobody had asked the people who'd actually left.
So I did.
Turns out, it wasn't about money, hours, or workload. It was about something far more basic that most employers completely overlook: whether people felt like their intelligence was being respected and utilised effectively.
This revelation shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did, but after eighteen years consulting on workplace issues, I'm still amazed by how often organisations focus on everything except the fundamental question of whether their people feel genuinely valued for what they bring to the work.
The Intelligence Insult Nobody Recognises
Smart people quit when they're consistently treated like they're not smart. This happens in ways that are so subtle most managers don't even realise they're doing it.
Micromanaging experienced professionals who've proven they can deliver results. Requiring multiple approvals for decisions within someone's clear area of expertise. Implementing processes that assume incompetence rather than supporting competence.
I watched this play out at a Melbourne marketing agency where they'd hired a senior strategist with fifteen years of experience, then required her to get approval from three different people before sending client proposals. Not because she'd made mistakes – she hadn't. But because "that's our process."
She lasted four months.
The most talented people have options. When they feel like their judgment isn't trusted or their expertise isn't respected, they use those options. They don't necessarily need more money or better benefits – they need to work somewhere that treats them like the capable professionals they are.
This is why exit interviews often miss the real reasons people leave. Nobody says "I quit because you made me feel stupid." They say they're seeking new challenges or better growth opportunities. But the underlying issue is often that their current role doesn't acknowledge their capability.
The Meeting Culture That Drives People Mad
Let's talk about meetings, because this is where talent retention often goes to die.
I've observed hundreds of workplace meetings, and the pattern is consistent: the people with the most relevant expertise speak the least, while the people with the least understanding of the actual work dominate the conversation.