The Quiet Disengagement

With less than 6 months in the team, a reportee decided to leave the team. My observations from 1:1s, and feedback from onboarding mentors suggested that everything was fine - Until it wasn’t.

In retrospect, the signals were there - quieter in meetings, less proactive updates, disengagement from team discussions, onboarding mentor wasn’t showing up. But, with a large team to manage, a new joiner who isn’t making noise doesn’t get the same attention that they need. Ramp-up and adjustment looks like disengagement, until its too late.

By the time someone has decided that they don’t belong in your team, they’ve likely already stopped telling you. You don’t have the opportunity to catch it in time to make corrections.