HR

«Strong people leave like a bolt from the blue»

The company thought it was about salary. Exit interviews showed: people leave because of their manager and lost sense of purpose, not for the money.

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1Company & symptom

Company
A tech company with about 600 people. Market-level salaries, but strong specialists are leaving more and more often, and hiring can't keep up with the gaps.
Symptom
Valuable people quit "unexpectedly". On the standard exit survey, "salary" was the top answer. Salaries were raised — turnover didn't change.
False hypothesis
"We're being outbid on money." A conclusion drawn from checkboxes on the exit survey.

2Research design

Goal
Understand the real trajectory of the decision to leave — when and why it took shape.
Who we invited
20 strong specialists who quit in the last three months.
Format
A confidential 15-minute voice interview, outside the work email.

3Script

Full set of questions

  1. Recall the moment you first thought "it's time to go". When was that?
  2. What was happening at work and in the team then?
  3. What was the last straw?
  4. When did you last feel that your work meant something?
  5. How was your relationship with your manager?
  6. Did you speak up about the problems? What was the response?
  7. What would have actually kept you — honestly?
  8. How much was money the real reason, and how much just a pretext?
  9. What turned out to be different at the new place?

AI doesn't read this out as a list. It follows the questions and, after every answer, asks a live follow-up until it gets to the real point. Here's how it sounds.

4Live conversation

Interview excerpt

AI
On the survey you put salary. But honestly — how did it all start?
Respondent
Six months ago my project was shut down with no explanation. And I stopped understanding why I was even there.
AI
Did you talk about it with your manager?
Respondent
I tried. The answer was — "hang in there, new tasks are coming soon". There were no new tasks for months.
AI
And when the offer came in — was money the deciding factor?
Respondent
The money was more or less the same. It's just that there, I'm needed by someone again.
AI
So the salary on the survey…
Respondent
That's what's easy to tick on a form. What really happened — I was just stopped being noticed.

5Interview analysis

sonarum combines 20 conversations into one report: which themes come up most often, live quotes, and conclusions.

How often the theme came up

Leave because of the manager, not the company75%
Lost their sense of purpose: projects were shut down without explanation70%
"Salary" on the survey is a convenient pretext, not the reason65%
Signals were sent well in advance — they went unheard60%
Money at the new place — the same or a bit higher40%
«What really happened — I was just stopped being noticed.»
«Salary is what's easy to tick on a form.»
«There, I'm needed by someone again — that's the whole difference.»

Key conclusions

  • The main reason for leaving is the relationship with the manager and lost sense of purpose, not money. Raising salaries missed the point.
  • "Salary" on the survey is a respectable label hiding the real pain.
  • People sent signals months before leaving — the system didn't notice them.

6Solution & result

Stop chasing salaries. Introduce regular one-on-ones about purpose and growth, train managers, catch early signals, and be honest when a project is shut down.

Before → after

Turnover of strong specialists
19% per year
11%
Catching early exit signals
not tracked
60% of cases
Retention spend
rising salaries
lower (not money)

It turned out retention isn't about money, but about managers and purpose. Targeted work with managers cut turnover of strong people almost in half — and cheaper than raising salaries.

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