You don’t lose your best people overnight.
It starts small.
When you ask them to clean up after your poor performer’s mess.
"Reward” them with more work because they’re “the only ones who can.”
Then load them up again because they’re “so reliable.”
When they extend help out of malasakit, you shut them down because “they’re overstepping." Yet you volunteer them to service all employees because “the organization is thin so they need to stretch themselves.”
When you start tweaking definitions, to convince them that tasks that aren't theirs are now theirs.
You stretch them thin for out-of-scope work, but never fight for their raise, bonus, or promotion.
You justify their silent patience with “next cycle.”
Or you do give them an increase, but only by 5%, despite the workload increasing by 50%.
You call it “budget constraints” instead of admitting they deserve better.
You gaslight them to be “grateful.”
Your best people will take it, for a while.
Because great employees don’t quit easily.
But one day, they’ll realize their care isn’t being reciprocated.
When that day comes, they won’t make noise.
They’ll stay professional, smile in meetings, and hit their deadlines.
Until one day, they won’t.
Because burnout doesn’t scream. It fades quietly.
Take them for granted, and you’ll lose the ones who carry your team’s weight.
The ones doing the actual heavy lifting.
Their agility is the reason you can scroll through social media during office hours.
Their malasakit, overtime, and crisis mitigation are the reasons you can enjoy weeknights and weekends.
Their dependability is why you can go on leave for weeks without worry.
Ever notice how when they go on PTO, you suddenly have more meetings? you suddenly feel "tired."
Cause they’re the ones actually doing the work while you go volunteering them then credit-grabbing.
At least, compensate properly.
Value them genuinely.
Occassional “I'm proud of you" and “Nice work," while it sounds good, are not enough.
Those cannot feed mouths.
Because if you don’t,
they’ll start building a life where they’re valued.