Francesca Lagerberg leads 50,000 people across 148 countries as CEO of Baker Tilly International. She's been in professional services for over 30 years. And she said something on this week's episode that most CEOs think privately but won't say out loud.
Your best people are probably not going to stay.
Not because you're doing something wrong. Because that's the world now. The lifer is gone. The person who joins at 25 and retires at 60 in the same company—that's a memory, not a plan. And most CEOs are still building their talent strategy around a version of loyalty that no longer exists.
The five-year window
Francesca put it plainly. If you're realistic, you might get five great years from someone. Maybe less. And that's not a failure. That's the deal.
The question is whether you spend those five years pretending they'll stay forever—underinvesting in their development because "why bother if they're going to leave"—or whether you treat those five years as a window to maximise everything. Their growth. Their output. Their experience of your company.
Because here's what happens when you get those five years right: they leave singing your praises. They talk about you. They send other people your way. They become clients. That's not a loss. That's a return on investment most CEOs never calculate.
And here's what happens when you get it wrong: they leave anyway, just sooner, and they tell everyone why.
What this changes
If you accept the five-year window, everything about how you develop people shifts. You can't afford to let someone do 400 tax returns before they're ready for real work—Francesca's example, not mine. You have to get them to higher-value contribution faster. Train differently. Give them real responsibility earlier. Stop hoarding talent in roles they've outgrown because it's convenient for you.
This is where most CEOs get stuck. They know intellectually that people won't stay. But emotionally, they're still building around permanence. The org chart assumes stability. The development programmes assume a five-to-ten year runway. The succession plans assume people will wait.
They won't.
The question nobody asks
I work with CEOs who spend enormous energy trying to retain people. Retention strategies. Engagement surveys. Counter-offers. All designed to keep people from leaving. But very few ask the harder question: if this person is going to leave in three years no matter what I do, am I getting the maximum value—for them and for us—from the time we have?
That reframe changes the conversation entirely. You stop chasing loyalty. You start designing for intensity. Five great years where someone grows fast, contributes at a high level, and leaves with respect for what you built together.
Francesca described it as a partnership, not a transaction. You're not doing something to them. You're working with them to get the maximum out of the time you share. And when it's done, you shake hands and mean it.
The uncomfortable truth
Most companies say "people are our greatest asset." Few act like it. Because acting like it means investing heavily in someone you know will eventually walk out the door. That takes a kind of generosity most organisations talk about but rarely practise.
The ones that do? They never struggle to hire.
🎧 Full conversation with Francesca Lagerberg on The World Class Leaders Show: link below.
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