5 Mistakes That Make Good Employees Quit

Summary

Leila Hormozi argues that effective employee onboarding is a retention strategy—not a one-day orientation. She says companies that onboard well retain employees 50% longer, while poor onboarding can leave new hires unclear, unsupported, and unable to contribute fully. In her experience, many early employee failures stem from weak onboarding rather than a bad hire.

Five onboarding mistakes

• Starting onboarding on day one: Begin as soon as the candidate accepts the offer. Send a timeline covering upcoming communications, required logins or setup, the first-day schedule, and what to expect during the first week. A welcome or swag package can also help the new hire feel included.
• Too little manager communication: Hormozi recommends manager check-ins twice daily for at least the first two weeks—around 30 minutes in the morning and afternoon. Then taper to once daily for a few weeks, twice weekly, and eventually the normal one-on-one cadence. Adjust based on the employee’s progress.
• Insufficient structure: Provide an hour-by-hour agenda for the first one to two weeks, rather than simply assigning reading and shadowing. Explain the purpose and desired outcome of each activity, and ask the employee to take notes and share feedback on what they learn.
• Unclear expectations: Set role-specific 30-, 60-, and 90-day goals and review them at each milestone. For senior hires, she may ask the employee to draft the plan; for roles she understands better, she sets a draft for the employee to review.
• No feedback loop: Give timely, candid feedback on what is and isn’t working, and invite feedback from the new hire. Hormozi’s view is that constructive friction early builds trust and prevents surprises later.

Five Cs of onboarding

Hormozi adapts a framework she attributes to SHRM:

• Compliance: Complete paperwork, agreements, handbook acknowledgment, and any required compliance training.
• Clarity: Define the job’s priorities and the problems the hire is expected to solve, using measurable 30-, 60-, and 90-day goals.
• Culture: Share relevant materials and history—such as presentations, podcasts, books, handbook content, or past vendor correspondence—and introduce people who embody the company’s desired culture.
• Connection: Introduce peers, consider assigning a buddy as a go-to resource, and include the new hire in relevant cross-departmental meetings.
• Check back: Maintain regular check-ins, provide feedback, and ask for feedback. One tactic is to invite new hires to document “fresh eyes” observations—such as long-standing problems the team may no longer notice—and share them after their first week.

Example and metrics

• Hormozi recounts a finance-operations hire whom her manager wanted to dismiss after three weeks. The initial onboarding consisted mainly of one call and unstructured shadowing and reading. After Hormozi created onboarding resources and had the manager onboard the employee again using them, the employee remained with the company and performed well.
• She cites a claim that 76% of new hires feel they lack the proper tools.
• She says losing or firing an employee before one year can cost 100%–300% of that employee’s annual salary.
• Her stated retention benchmark is that companies with effective onboarding retain employees 50% longer than those without it.

Sources/presenters: Leila Hormozi; SHRM is credited as the source of the underlying “Five Cs” framework.