Why can't I find good people?

Most owners who ask me to help them recruit do not have a recruiting problem. They have a retention problem.

I hear two versions of this. "Help me find people." And, "Why doesn't anyone want to work anymore?"

My answer to both is the same. People do want to work. They want to work somewhere that gives them a purpose, a team they contribute to, and a mission they can see. When a business keeps refilling the same jobs, another job ad will not fix it. The leak is somewhere else.

The research says the same thing. Gallup surveyed people who had quit a job in the past year, and 42% said their manager or organization could have done something to keep them. Nearly half, 45%, said no manager or leader had talked with them about their job satisfaction, performance or future in the three months before they left (Gallup).

Every one of those departures restarts the clock. SHRM's 2026 benchmarking puts the median time to fill a nonexecutive job at 39 calendar days (SHRM). That is more than a month of someone else covering the work, every time.

Three questions to ask before you post that job again

1. How many times have I filled this job in the last two years? If the answer is more than once, the job or the manager is the issue, not the applicant pool.
2. Do I know why the last person left? I mean the real reason, not the one they gave on the way out. If you do not know, ask the people still doing that job what makes it hard.
3. Could my best employee tell me, in one sentence, why their work matters here? If they could not, a new hire will not figure it out either.

Fixing what makes people leave is slower than running an ad. It is also the only thing that stops you from running the same ad again in six months.

Start with one conversation this week. Sit down with one person you would hate to lose and ask what would make them stay another five years. Then listen.

If you are stuck refilling the same jobs, call or text me. We can usually find the leak in one conversation.

Sources

• Gallup, 42% of Employee Turnover Is Preventable but Often Ignored (survey of 717 U.S. employees who left voluntarily, November 2023)
• SHRM, Recruiting Benchmarking (2026 report)

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