8 Surprising Ways to Reduce Unwanted Turnover

8 Surprising Ways to Reduce Unwanted Turnover

From No Bullsh!t Leadership by Martin G Moore

May 26, 2026 · 21 min · Season 1 · Episode 404

About this episode

This episode discusses how high turnover is a leadership problem rather than a retention problem and offers practical solutions to address it.

Most leaders think high turnover is a retention problem. But it’s not; it's a leadership problem. And the fix is the exact opposite of what most leaders do. Staff turnover is still widely misunderstood. And most leaders operate from a place of fear, responding to it defensively. They tiptoe around their people, lower the standards, and tolerate poor performance so they don't rock the boat. But, ironically, this is the worst thing you could possibly do for your retention problem.  In this episode I give you my views on how to frame the turnover problem; I look at an article from Harvard Business Review that confirms what great leaders have always known. And I give you a practical framework that you can implement: four things to stop doing and four things to start doing. Links mentioned in this episode: No Bullsh!t Leadership episodes: Ep.27: Unleashing the Power of Your People Ep.355: The New Rules for High Performing Teams Harvard Business Review article: Surprising Ways to Reduce Turnover in High-Pressure, High-Skill Jobs Supporting research: Operational Overload: The Impact of Workload on High-Skilled Workforce Attrition Wikipedia link: Yerkes-Dodson Law Nurse Org article…

People in this episode

Host: Martin G Moore

Topics covered

  • employee retention
  • leadership
  • turnover
  • performance management
  • workplace culture

Keywords

  • turnover
  • leadership
  • employee retention
  • performance
  • workplace culture
  • management strategies

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Harvard Business Review, Nurse Org, Leadership Beyond the Theory

Books & works: Operational Overload: The Impact of Workload on High-Skilled Workforce Attrition, Yerkes-Dodson Law

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