Welcome to The Hero 🗞️. This is approximately a 2.5-minute read.

Someone resigns.

HR runs an exit interview.

Notes get filed.

Nothing changes…

Six months later, you're backfilling the same role - and the person you hire walks into the exact problem the last one left over.

Same manager.

Same onboarding problems.

Same culture mismatch.

You didn't fix it because… nobody told you what to fix.

In fact, only 13.4% of employers believe toxic environments cause turnover.

Yet, 26.8% of employees say that's exactly why they left.

Two completely different stories about the same departures.

The full breakdown is just below - don’t miss it! 😉

Here are some of the best links I’ve found since last time I emailed you: 

Skills-Based Hiring in 2025: What It Is and How to Prepare (link)

Skills-Based Hiring: The Ultimate 2026 Recruiter’s Guide (link)

Passive Candidate Recruitment: How to Succeed in 2026 (link)

Top Strategies to Source Passive Candidates in 2026 (link) 

Candidate Experience: Best Practices for Attracting Quality Talent (link)

Candidate Experience: 10 Best Practices to Attract and Retain Talent (link)

Employers Plan to Hire ‘Aggressively’ in 2026 - But Only for Certain Roles (link)

Every resignation is free market research on your company.

👉️ "I left because there was no growth path."

→ Your recruiting process should have a clear promotion timeline.

👉️ "The role was nothing like the job description."

→ The person who just lived the role can tell you how to fix it.

👉️ "I got a 30% raise to do the same thing somewhere else."

→ Your comp is off. No pitch fixes that.

Every answer maps directly to a hiring decision to help prevent future turnover.

The best information comes from the person who’s lived it.

If HR won't share them, ask the hiring manager.

If nobody did an exit interview, do your own - call the leaver a week after their last day.

People are shockingly candid once the relationship is over 👀

Two questions do the heavy lifting:

👉️ What didn’t you enjoy about the position?

Skip the polished corporate answer.

You want the real version - the stuff they'd tell a friend over drinks.

👉️ What would someone who actually succeeds in this role need to be like?

Nobody knows better than the person who just left.

Use that answer to build your ideal candidate profile.

Most JDs are wish lists…

The person who just left can tell you what the role really looks like, day to day - what tools they actually used, what the workload really felt like, and what the job description got wrong

Rewrite the JD accordingly.

If the person who left said "the workload was unsustainable," stop screening for ambition and rework the scope of work.

If they said "it was very sink of swim," screen for candidates who've thrived in high-autonomy environments.

Either change the reality - or change who you hire.

Ignoring this is how you end up backfilling the same role for a third time.

Your turnover isn't an HR problem.

It's a hiring problem.

Every person who leaves just handed you the blueprint for who should come next.

If you're hiring the same role for the third time this year.

The person who left could tell you exactly why.

Pick up the phone, and make the call.

There are a few ways:

Or you can just reply to this email.

I reply to absolutely everyone who writes me back 🙂