Nobody resigns on a whim. By the time the letter lands, the decision was made weeks or months earlier — and the signals were there to read. The practices that retain their best people aren't lucky. They notice early and act before the exit interview, when it's too late.
The five signals
- 1Disengagement — they stop offering ideas in meetings and do exactly the job, no more. The extra effort quietly switches off.
- 2CPD requests dry up — someone who's stopped investing in their development here has often started investing it somewhere else.
- 3"Just asking" about hours or pay — casual questions about flexibility or banding are rarely casual.
- 4Withdrawal from the team — less banter, fewer lunches, a step back from the social fabric of the practice.
- 5Patience runs thin — the small frustrations they used to absorb now visibly bother them.
One of these is a bad week. Three of these is a clinician with one foot out of the door.
What to do while you still can
The fixes are rarely dramatic, and almost never just money. Protect their diary. Fund the course they asked about. Give them the supervision or the autonomy they've outgrown the lack of. Have the conversation before they've signed elsewhere, not after — a counter-offer at the resignation stage usually fails, because by then they've already left in their head.
The maths that should focus the mind
Replacing a clinician can cost six to nine months of their salary once you count re-hiring, re-training and lost patients. A conversation and a protected afternoon cost almost nothing. Retention is the cheapest recruitment strategy you have.