Managers, what kind of culture is your behavior helping create? Employees watch everything, and they attach meaning to their observations. When they look at the work environment and culture, do they get excited? Or does what they see tell them that it’s time to start looking for a new job?

I asked people to finish this sentence: “I knew it was time to leave when…” They weren’t shy.

“…when I took a short term leave to care for my dying mother. When she passed away and I returned to work two weeks later, no one seemed to know or to care. It was then that I knew that the org culture was not consistent with my values and it was time to leave.” Karen P.

“…when I come up against an obstacle that I’ve bumped into before–and I felt too tired to challenge or find a way around it.”  G.B.

“….when I realized my goals and priorities no longer matched my company’s.” Cathy L.

“…when I had an opportunity to sell our services to a friend and realized I wasn’t confident enough in the company to put our friendship at risk.” Connie W.

“…when my company execs put on their Golden Parachutes and bailed.” Joe C.

“…when senior executives got huge bonuses, and it took me five months to get computer that wouldn’t crash every time the wind was blowing.” Nicholas D.

“…when I realized that I would never want my children to work for that company.” Randy P.

“…when the ethics of HR went out the window – no regard for professionalism, publicly humiliating employees and terminating people with no basis for termination. When you question ethics – time to go, better yet – RUN.” Lisa D.

“…when my direct boss shot plastic frogs at me in a fit of rage. The tail was wagging the dog, and I didn’t want to be the flea that kept getting swatted!” Catherine G.

“…when the usual ‘parties’ are happening without me.” Pranay K.

“…when management asks for my professional opinion and makes it clear they don’t like what they’ve heard. When the corporate culture does not value open communications, continuous improvement, best practices, collaboration and integrity.” Leone B.

“…when I realized that I was simultaneously fighting above and below in an established culture determined to preserve an inefficient and highly politicized status quo.  Pete N.

Maybe you don’t have engaged employees because your employees expect too much. Or maybe it’s because your culture offers too little.