Talent Doesn’t Take a Summer Break

Every summer, leaders wave their best people off with a cheerful “enjoy the break” and stop thinking about them until they’re back at their desk. That’s an expensive mistake. Research shows a significant share of employees use time away from work to seriously weigh up whether they still want to be there, and enough of them act on it that replacing a single senior hire can cost anywhere from half to twice their annual salary. This article makes the commercial case that the conversation before a key person goes on leave isn’t a courtesy. It’s a retention tool, and running it well is a leadership capability, not a soft skill. It also gives you the one thing to do this week, before anyone on your team packs a bag.

The Commercial Reality

Here’s the number that should focus attention. Studies of full-time employees repeatedly find that close to half think seriously about quitting while they’re on holiday, and a meaningful proportion follow through within a few months of returning. The employees who stay heavily connected to work during their time off, (checking in, taking calls, half-working through their break), are the most likely to act on those thoughts, not the least.

Now let’s put a number on what that costs. Replacing an employee typically costs somewhere between half and twice their annual salary, and for senior or specialist roles that figure climbs well beyond it. For an SME, losing one key person mid-project isn’t an HR inconvenience. It’s a five or six-figure hit to the P&L, on top of the knowledge, client relationships and momentum that walk out the door with them.

If a proportion of that risk is being decided on a sun lounger, the pre-holiday conversation stops being a nicety. It’s essentially risk management.

Why the Timing Isn’t a Coincidence

Holiday is one of the only times most people get real distance from the noise of work. Given headspace, people reassess, not because they’re plotting an exit, but because it’s the first quiet moment they’ve had in months – I’m guessing this could even sound familiar to you, as loads of us have done it! If the last conversation before they left was a rushed handover with nothing about how they’re doing or where they see their future, don’t be surprised by what they land on in that quiet moment. Silence from you doesn’t read as trust, it reads as indifference.

Ask yourself:

→ When did I last have a genuine conversation with my key people about their future, not just their workload?
→ If my best performer used their next holiday to quietly weigh up their options, would I already know which way they were leaning?
→ Am I using “let them enjoy their break” as a reason to avoid a conversation I should be having anyway?

This Is a Leadership Capability, Not a Soft Skill

In a market where good people have options, the ability to read your team, have the direct conversation and retain your best talent isn’t a nice-to-have leadership trait. It’s a competitive one. Leaders who treat retention conversations as emotional labour, something to get through, delegate or avoid, are quietly weaker operators than those who treat it as a core commercial skill, on par with reading a P&L or managing a difficult client.

The war for talent doesn’t pause for July and August. If anything, it intensifies, because your competitors’ best people are having exactly the same reflective moment yours are, and someone is having that conversation with them. The only question is whether it’s you or someone else.

The conversation you avoid before they leave is the one they’ll have with themselves while they’re away.

If You Do One Thing

Before anyone on your team goes on leave this summer, have one proper, undistracted conversation with them. Not the handover. Lots of my clients ask directly what would make them stay, and listen to the answer even when it’s uncomfortable….I see these conversations having the highest impact of them all despite feeling quite unorthodox.

Before they go: The real conversation. Progress, future, and what would make them stay, not just what needs covering while they’re out.

While they’re away: Resist the urge to check in, even if that’s what you’ve always done to date. If the right conversation happened, you don’t need to.

When they return: Follow up on what they told you, not just what they missed. Revisit anything about their role or future within the first week back. Talk about their development – empower and motivate them.

The Takeaway

Talent doesn’t clock off because the office does. The leaders who protect their best people aren’t the ones being polite by leaving them alone over summer. They’re the ones treating retention as a commercial discipline, having the real conversation before the out-of-office goes on, so that whatever gets decided on that beach or that walk is decided with the full picture, not in the absence of one. In a competitive market for talent, that’s not a soft skill. It’s an edge.

If you’d like support building a leadership culture where these conversations happen as standard practice, not crisis response, I’d love to talk. Get in touch with VB&A.

Victoria Buckenham 2026