‘I almost lost one of my best employees’: Bengaluru CA shares the management mistake bosses often make

A high-performing employee does not always signal dissatisfaction through complaints, missed deadlines or visible workplace problems. Sometimes, everything can appear perfectly fine until they quietly decide it is time to move on. Bengaluru-based CA Meenal Goel recently shared a personal management lesson on social media after nearly losing one of her best employees. The experience made her rethink how managers measure employee satisfaction and highlighted why career growth, meaningful opportunities and regular conversations matter just as much as getting the work done.

Meenal Goel realised something important about employee growth

Bengaluru CA Meenal Goel took to social media and shared that she had “almost lost one of my best employees” because she assumed everything was going well. There had been no complaints, missed deadlines or obvious problems. From a manager’s perspective, the employee appeared to be doing fine. But that assumption changed when the employee eventually told her, “I don't feel like I'm growing here anymore.” The admission caught Goel completely off guard.

The management mistake was focusing only on work

Goel reflected that her attention had largely been on getting work done, meeting deadlines and keeping clients happy. While these remained important responsibilities, she realised she had overlooked another crucial aspect of managing people: ensuring they feel they are progressing. As she put it, people do not simply want a job; they also want “progress.” The experience prompted her to rethink how she managed her team and put greater emphasis on professional development rather than limiting conversations to day-to-day performance.

She introduced regular career conversations

Goel said she began having monthly career conversations with team members instead of relying only on performance reviews. She also started giving employees clearer ownership of larger projects, allowing them to take on responsibilities that could help them develop professionally. Another change involved creating opportunities for employees to learn skills outside their existing roles. She also made it a point to regularly discuss where team members wanted to be over the next six to 12 months.

These changes helped shift the focus from simply completing assigned work to understanding where employees wanted their careers to go.

Why good employees may leave quietly

The biggest lesson Goel took from the experience was that strong employees do not necessarily leave because of a single bad day or one major workplace incident. Instead, she argued that they can gradually become disengaged after spending months feeling as though they are “standing still.” That is why managers need to look beyond productivity when assessing whether their teams are doing well. Deadlines being met and clients remaining satisfied may indicate that the work is progressing, but they do not necessarily reveal how employees feel about their own growth.

Goel’s advice to managers is therefore to ask more than whether the work is getting done. They should also consider a more important question: “Is this person growing?”