Things They Don’t Teach You at Business School – #4: Your Team Quits, Not Your Clients
- Connie Barrientos-Carey
- Nov 2
- 2 min read
You can’t scale if your people keep leaving.
It’s unbelievable how many businesses still think it’s easy to find people. Sure, you can hire a random person off the street — but highly skilled people with the right attitude and soft skills? That’s something else.
It’s almost a punishment like that of Prometheus — except instead of a vulture, you get never-ending turnover.
Here’s the reality: there’s a massive skill shortage right now in the Philippines — especially in Cebu — across IT/BPO, construction, and healthcare. Everyone’s hiring, but not everyone’s keeping.
Let’s talk numbers:
On average, it takes 40 days to hire someone new.
It takes six months for that person to master the learning curve.
And between sourcing, onboarding, and training, you’re spending at least ₱200,000 per hire.
When people leave, they don’t just walk out — they take skills, experience, and inside knowledge with them.
That’s why retention, culture, and fair treatment are not “soft” topics — they’re hard business metrics.
Here’s another uncomfortable truth: if you want a higher salary in the Philippines, the fastest way is to move jobs. You’ll likely get a 20–30% pay increase versus the 2–7% raise (if any) you get for staying loyal. That’s not disloyalty — that’s the market talking.
It’s cheaper to win a new client than to replace a good employee.
Client acquisition is tactical.
But retention is strategic.
If you want to scale sustainably, you need engaged team members — people who care, contribute, and grow with you.
Your internal customers (your staff) will treat your external customers as well as you treat them.
If your frontliners seem rude, disengaged, or robotic, you don’t really need to ask why.
The best business people know this:
You don’t lose clients first.
You lose your people — and they take your best version of the business with them.
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