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Issue 51
Disengagement Spreads Faster than Departure Notices
Chris Hagood
August 21, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes
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Table of Contents
Opening Salvo
Not every resignation comes with a two-week notice. Some employees quit long before they walk out the door.
Silent attrition is when employees remain on payroll but disengage from the work. They stop contributing ideas, withdraw from collaboration, or give only the minimum effort required. On paper, headcount looks stable. In reality, performance is leaking, morale is eroding, and the culture is signaling to others that disengagement is acceptable.
This is more dangerous than turnover because it’s harder to spot and spreads quickly. Leaders who only measure exits miss the bigger problem: presence without participation.
Practical Personas (with a tinge of hyperbole)
The Quiet Clock-Puncher: Shows up, completes the basics, but avoids stretch assignments or collaboration. The work is functional, but the engagement is gone.
The Ghost Promiser: Volunteers occasionally, then misses deadlines or quietly backs out. Once a reliable contributor, now harder to pin down.
The Re-engager: Notices the distance. Reconnects by asking questions, offering growth opportunities, and tying work back to relevance and purpose.
Ask Yourself:
Who’s showing up in body but not in energy?
Are you only measuring retention by headcount?
Do managers feel equipped to address checked-out behavior before it becomes contagious?
The cost of silent attrition is hidden, but significant. Disengagement spreads faster than departure notices.
Did You See This?
The Midyear Check-In Leaders Can’t Afford to Skip
Midyear is a checkpoint for leaders as well as for organizational performance. Effective people management requires as much listening as it does decision-making. The WorkLife midyear leadership guide underscores that the second half of the year often determines whether annual goals are met. Leaders who slow down to gather input, understand team challenges, and recalibrate priorities position their organizations to finish strong.
Listening is an active process of gathering intelligence, validating assumptions, and shaping action.
The guide draws insights from leadership experts who stress that midyear is a natural moment to pause and assess. Julia Arndt, founder of Peak Performance Method, emphasizes the importance of regular check-ins and one-on-ones to understand shifting employee needs.
Several leaders highlight that listening builds trust, which is critical during times of change or uncertainty. The piece notes that managers who prioritize open communication help teams adapt to evolving business demands. Listening also allows leaders to catch small problems before they escalate and to align resources with real needs instead of assumed ones.
The advice is consistent across industries: gather feedback deliberately, be transparent about what will be acted on, and show measurable follow-through.
Leaders can use the midyear point to strengthen listening practices with these actions:
Schedule intentional listening sessions. Host team forums, one-on-ones, and skip-level meetings to capture diverse perspectives.
Close the loop on feedback. Share what was heard, what will be acted on, and the expected timeline.
Balance inquiry with clarity. Ask open questions but also provide clear context for why input is being sought.
Track and revisit themes. Document recurring issues and revisit them in follow-ups to demonstrate commitment.
Invest in listening skills. Offer managers training on active listening, bias reduction, and emotional intelligence.
A midyear reset should review both performance outcomes and leadership practices to ensure alignment with the team’s reality for the months ahead.
Recession Prep Is a Talent Plan, Not a Panic Button
Learn from this investor’s $100m mistake
In 2010, a Grammy-winning artist passed on investing $200K in an emerging real estate disruptor. That stake could be worth $100+ million today.
One year later, another real estate disruptor, Zillow, went public. This time, everyday investors had regrets, missing pre-IPO gains.
Now, a new real estate innovator, Pacaso – founded by a former Zillow exec – is disrupting a $1.3T market. And unlike the others, you can invest in Pacaso as a private company.
Pacaso’s co-ownership model has generated $1B+ in luxury home sales and service fees, earned $110M+ in gross profits to date, and received backing from the same VCs behind Uber, Venmo, and eBay. They even reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO.
Paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com. Reserving a ticker symbol is not a guarantee that the company will go public. Listing on the NASDAQ is subject to approvals.
Talent Management 101 (TM101)
Silent Attrition: Employees Who Quit Without Leaving
Silent attrition refers to the disengagement of employees who remain in their roles but reduce effort, energy, or commitment. Unlike voluntary turnover, it’s not easily captured in exit data, yet its impact on productivity and culture can be more corrosive.
Why It Matters:
• Hidden disengagement drags down team performance and morale
• Silent attrition often spreads as others mirror disengaged behaviors
• Retention metrics look stable, masking the true health of the workforce
Risks of Ignoring It:
• Leaders focus on hiring and turnover without addressing engagement leaks
• High performers shoulder more work, leading to burnout and resentment
• Culture shifts toward disengagement as “checking out” becomes normalized
What to Change and How:
• Track leading indicators: Monitor participation in meetings, project ownership, and peer feedback for early signs
• Train managers to spot subtle disengagement and re-engage through coaching conversations
• Create multiple feedback channels so employees can surface frustration before it turns into withdrawal
• Recognize contributions visibly, ensuring effort and impact are valued consistently
Silent attrition is a silent warning signal. Organizations that address it early prevent disengagement from turning into a cultural collapse.
The Plug
This newsletter is brought to you by AstutEdge, a consultancy dedicated to developing and deploying a people-first talent management culture. We solve both obvious and hidden challenges by optimizing performance, engagement, and development across the entire HR, People, and Talent spectrum.
How We Help:
Optimize Team Performance: Implementing tailored strategies that improve efficiency, engagement, and collaboration.
Develop Leadership: Nurture leaders who inspire and drive organizational success through targeted development.
Enhance Employee Experience: Boosting morale and retention with data-driven engagement programs.
Improve Organizational Culture: Providing insights and solutions to create a positive, high-performing work environment.
Increase Business Growth: Aligning talent management practices with business goals to drive innovation and growth.
Strengthen Collaboration: Facilitating team cohesion through CliftonStrengths-based coaching and development.
This plug is shameless and should be shared widely. If your organization or a partner organization could benefit from talent management support, we’d love to help!
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