New research from Gartner shows something worth paying attention to — 56% of executives plan to leave their current roles within the next two years. What's especially noteworthy is that established high performers are nearly 40% more likely to exit than newcomers. And 27% are looking to leave within just six months.
If these numbers sound familiar, they should. They mirror the retention challenges contact centers face with frontline agents. The research from Alexander Kirss and Kate McLaren-Poole reveals why this similarity isn't a coincidence.
When executives start looking for the door, most companies respond with compensation increases or burnout solutions (i.e., wellness programs, sabbaticals, reduced workloads). But Gartner's data shows something different is happening.
Only 17% of departing executives plan to retire. Traditional burnout factors like work stress and work-life balance rank 5th, 6th, and 7th among the reasons people leave.
What executives really want:
Sound familiar? These are exactly the same drivers behind agent turnover. Executives aren't just burning out. Just like agents, they're getting disconnected from meaningful work, growth opportunities, and purpose.
What Gartner's research reveals is that executive retention isn't about individual problems that need individual fixes. When leaders get disconnected from building people-focused cultures and developing their workforce, they lose the sense of purpose that made them want to lead in the first place.
This happens because most organizations create artificial separations between leadership development and workforce engagement. Executives manage through dashboards and reports instead of having meaningful connections with their people. Agents get managed rather than developed. Everyone gets disconnected from the shared mission.
Bigger paychecks will always matter, but the real opportunity is in creating the conditions that make growth possible in the first place. This means focusing on the behaviors, processes, and actions that produce engagement and retention - not just the outcomes themselves.
Organizations need environments where:
At TouchPoint One, we've learned that the most effective approaches treat engagement as a universal human need, not a role-specific challenge. When organizations use comprehensive platforms like Acuity enhanced with engagement tools like A-GAME Leagues, something interesting happens.
A-GAME Leagues uses a fantasy sports approach where senior leaders draft and manage teams of frontline agents, competing based on real performance metrics. This is just one of many ways to facilitate the kind of meaningful connection that drives engagement. The key is creating structures - whether through gamification, coaching tools, shared dashboards, or other approaches - that naturally foster collaboration and mentoring between leadership and frontline staff. Performance management becomes something you do together, not something you do to people. Everyone gets the satisfaction of building and achieving together.
The results consistently show significant improvements in performance, retention, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement across client organizations. But perhaps more importantly, executives rediscover why they chose leadership roles in the first place.
As Norine Toomey, VP Brand Engagement, Sales and Marketing at Aucera, puts it: "Participating in TouchPoint One's Acuity Xtreme League reminded me why I love this industry. Yes, we can work as a team and win, but the real value lies in how much we learn from each other. We talk a lot about what leaders give, but what we get in return is just as powerful. Jumping back onto the front lines gave me a deeper appreciation for our agents' hustle and struggles. When we truly see and support each other, we don't just win games, we build something that lasts."
These results happen because you're addressing the actual root cause: people getting disconnected from meaningful impact and growth opportunities.
Gartner's research confirms what many of us know and experience each day. The same forces that drive agent turnover also drive executive turnover. Connection, growth, purpose, and cultural alignment are universal human needs.
The solution isn't separate programs for different roles. It's building comprehensive approaches that recognize we're all motivated by the same fundamental needs for mattering, belonging, opportunity, and meaningful work.
Helping CX organizations make this shift in focus and realize the benefits on the other side is what we're all about at TouchPoint One. With A-GAME Leagues Gridiron Season XI just around the corner, now's a great time to explore the proven catalyst for better engagement, retention, and fulfillment for every member of your CX workforce.
Want to explore how comprehensive performance management can transform engagement across your entire organization? Contact TouchPoint One to learn more about Acuity and A-GAME Leagues.
https://hbr.org/2025/07/3-ways-to-mitigate-executive-turnover
