Hi Reader
Most services can name the manager they cannot afford to lose. Fewer can say what it actually costs when that person walks.
What if your most reliable manager resigns next Tuesday? By the time their replacement finds the staff room, you have quietly burned through around thirty thousand dollars.
acancy. Backfill. Ramp. Rework. None of it shows clearly in the budget, all of it is real.
We track care minutes, incidents, waitlists and QIs. We rarely count the real bill for one unsupported manager.
This week’s Spark//Fizzle is about that bill, and a simple way to see it before you lose the next steady one.
I have unpacked the full method in this week’s article and provided a free ROI snapshot tool just for you → https://www.hyphaenetwork.com/latest-news-2/retention-roi-snapshot
This email is the short version, plus a way to start.
What one departure really looks like
On paper, losing them looks like some recruitment time, a vacancy gap, a bit of overtime and agency.
Inside the week, it looks like something else.
- Senior staff absorb decisions they are not resourced to carry
- Families and partners keep meeting new faces
- Projects stall in the “someone will pick this up later” pile
When you include super and standard on costs, then add vacancy, backfill, ramp and rework, a single departure at this level easily lands in the low thirty thousands. In the first four months alone.
That is roughly a third of their salary again, simply to get back to where you started. You feel that long before it appears in a report.
👉 Download the free Retention ROI Snapshot
A simple spreadsheet that helps you estimate the cost of losing one manager, including vacancy, backfill, ramp and rework.
Three questions to ask this week
You do not need a new program to start. You need a clearer picture.
- Which role would hurt you most to lose in 2026
Name the person, not the position description. The manager who holds the corridor steady. The coordinator who carries most of the invisible work.
- How many times have you refilled that role in the last two years
Once is painful. Twice or three times is a pattern. Put a number next to it. “We have recruited this role three times since 2023.”
- What did you actually spend last time
Use broad strokes. Vacancy weeks, overtime, agency, backfill, time from your senior people to orient and fix. Do not chase perfect figures. Aim for a number you would be comfortable defending at a board table.
If your answer is “we do not know”, that is your first insight. You are already paying, you just have not added it up.
📖 Read the full article:
Retention ROI Snapshot, how to see the real cost of unsupported managers
If you only take one thing from this email, let it be this.
It is cheaper to keep one good manager supported than to recruit them twice.
What mentoring changed in earlier cohorts
Across earlier cohorts of the Hyphae mentoring model, I kept seeing the same pattern.
From our national intakes:
- 90%+ agreed or strongly agreed the program met their expectations
- 90%+ said they would recommend the program
- 70% found the online tools and resources helpful
- 64% of partnerships continued after our program ended
Underneath those numbers were the stories that matter.
- Facility managers who stopped carrying every decision alone and started logging and clearing decision debt each week
- Clinical leaders who redesigned one huddle with their mentor and cut repeat escalations almost immediately
- New managers who stayed through the hard first year because they had one person helping them think, not just cope
These outcomes did not come from a giant new program. They came from cadence and follow through around the leaders everyone already relied on.
If you are responsible for workforce and reform
If you are a CEO, GM or executive in workforce, operations or clinical governance, you are already paying a retention bill.
Two practical next steps:
1. Run a Retention ROI Snapshot for one role
Pick one leadership role that keeps turning over. Use the method in the article to estimate the full cost of one departure. Then ask yourself, “What level of support would it take to keep this person for another year, and is it less than this number”
If you want a facilitation partner, this is the work I do inside the Executive Capacity and Retention Audit.
→ Learn more: https://www.hyphaenetwork.com/more-hyphae
→ Or reply to this email with RETAIN and I will send details. No pressure, just information.
2. Put structured support around at least one key manager in 2026
Whether it is Hyphae Mentoring, a leadership course they have already highlighted to you, or something internal, choose one person you cannot afford to lose and make sure they are not carrying the load alone.
Unsupported managers keep services running, until they do not.
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Your reflection for this week
Take five minutes and ask:
→ Which single leadership role would hurt most if we lost it again next year?
→ Have we treated support for that person as optional? or as part of safe care?
If the honest answer is “optional”, that is your early warning, not a judgement.
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Small systems. Real support. That is the work.
Warmly,
P.S. Are you ready for stronger mentoring program? Just for your team.
The Hyphae Mentoring Program is opening in early 2026. There are only 20 places. Consider securing your seat early.
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Six months. Six conversations.
One mentor who understands your world.
Structured support for leaders who’ve led reform from the front and want to sustain it.
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👉 Learn more about the Hyphae Mentoring Program https://www.hyphaenetwork.com/mentee
👉 Become a Hyphae Mentor https://www.hyphaenetwork.com/mentor
Need Manager Approval?
If you need approval or funding support, download our short briefing note below. Approvals can take time, so send it this week if you want your place secured before Christmas.
📄 Line Manager Briefing Note → Download Template