.svg)
The Resignation No One Saw Coming
.jpg)
Kelly has already absorbed four different kinds of damage.
An RTO decision that detonated without warning.
A calibration cycle hijacked by politics.
A retaliation complaint where timing mattered more than intent.
A rumor that nearly hollowed out morale before she shut it down in a town hall.
Episode 5 is a look at what HR leaders dread the most - top talent attrition.
If you’re new here, welcome.
Behind HR Lines is a dramatized composite of the messy, political, emotionally loaded reality of running the People function, told through the eyes of Kelly Cross, Chief People Officer at LumaCore Labs.
The Situation
Maya showed up at Klara’s door, appearing visibly panicked.
“Kelly, you’re going to want to see this.”
“If it’s another Blind post, I’m deleting the app.”
“It’s not Blind. It’s Nikolai. He quit”
Kelly blinked. “Quit… as in?”
“Sent his resignation at two this morning. Copied me. Three lines. No hand-off plan. Nothing.”
She stared at the floor for a moment before answering. “He just got his review.”
“‘Meets Expectations,’” Maya said. “Parker (his manager and CTO) cited low collaboration.”
“He’s literally building the predictive demo. Alone. Who’s he supposed to collaborate with? Himself?” barked Kelly.
Maya kept quiet - she knew better than to reply to a rhetorical question when Kelly was fuming.
Kelly pushed her chair back. “Get me everything - ratings, engagement data, 1:1 logs, Slack history if we have to. I want the full picture.”
The Spiral
By noon, the picture was ugly.
Parker had reorganized Engineering six weeks ago without looping in HR to “speed things up.”
Nikolai lost his partner in the shuffle - the one who translated his models into product outcomes.
He had asked for a backfill but Parker had refused - once again, keeping HR in the dark.
Kelly stared at the Klaar dashboard on her screen.
Engagement: down 23 points since the reorg. Two missed check-ins. 3 automated nudges to the manager to intervene. None acknowledged.
“Look at this,” she said, turning the screen to Maya. “The system called it out in red. Twice. It even suggested what to say - “Nikolai’s engagement scores have been consistently trending lower. This correlates with his role change and the dip in Jira tickets. When you have your 1:1s, it might be a good idea to clarify his role.”
Maya folded her arms. “We got the right tool but Parker ignored the lights.”
Kelly rubbed her eyes. “And now they’ll ask me to clean it up.”
The Pivot
Daniel called before she could call him. “I just heard from Parker. We lost our ML lead. That’s a serious failure on your team’s part. He’s critical for the Q3 demo. Investors are asking about timelines already.”
Kelly was livid but her voice was even. “On my team’s part?”
“You’re Head of People. Retention’s your job.”
“Retention is everyone’s job. And we did see it coming. Klaar flagged the lack of continuous feedback twice - it even told Parker what he should talk about in his 1:1 with him. He ignored it. Parker moved half his team without telling us. You signed off. I can’t retain people I’m not even allowed to manage.”
There was a pause, long enough for him to know she was right.
Then he said, quieter, “So what do we do?”
“Fix what broke,” she said. “Starting with communication. I’ll talk to him tonight. But this isn’t a one-off, Daniel. This is structural.”
He exhaled. “You think he’ll stay?”
“I think he’s already gone. But maybe he’ll listen if we stop pretending this was his fault.”
The Conversation
The cafeteria was nearly empty when he arrived. “I didn’t quit because of the rating, if that’s what you’re here for.” Nikolai said, setting his bag down.
“I know,” she said. “You quit because no one told you your job changed until it was already broken.”
That stopped him.
She continued, quietly. “You lost your partner. Your new team had no translation layer. You went from cross-functional to isolated overnight. And somehow, that got labeled a ‘collaboration issue.’”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I tried saying that. It went nowhere. Managers are busy. Everyone’s busy.”
Kelly leaned forward. “That’s not an excuse. The system sent three alerts to your manager. All ignored.”
Nikolai gave a dry laugh. “So the machine knew before the people did. Perfect irony.”
“Look,” she said finally, “I can’t change what happened. But I can make sure it doesn’t happen again. No reorgs without HR review. No missed check-ins. Feedback has to be continuous. You stay, you help us rebuild it right. You leave, and we’ll fix it slower; that’s worse.”
He studied her face, searching for something beyond damage control.
“You’re serious? Aren’t you supposed to be on their side?”
“I don’t bluff about work that matters. And I’m here to ensure the organization and the people that make up the org reach their collective goals.”
He let out a long breath. “I need to think about it - I’ll try and come back to you over the weekend.”
After a rather anxious weekend, just as she was about to hit the bed, Klara received a text on Sunday night - it was short like the resignation note - “staying back, but I need the changes in writing.”
The Pattern
Monday morning, she walked into Parker’s office without knocking.
“You moved an entire function without involving HR.”
He looked up, already defensive. “We were trying to move fast. Product deadlines…”
She cut him off. “You’re not moving fast. You’re moving blind. And I’m done cleaning up after messes - I would much rather be brought into the conversation early before the decision has been made then clean up a decision that I didn’t have a hand in .”
He opened his mouth, closed it again. “Alright. You’re right.”
“I know.” She stood. “Next time, loop us in before you play architect. Now you have to explain to the entire team why we retained somebody who resigned - this cannot be the norm.”
Attrition isn’t a surprise. It’s a sequence.
Missed check-ins. Lost context. Ignored alerts.
People don’t leave companies - they leave the absence of attention.
Kelly’s Corner
When we asked HR Leaders how they spot flight risks, a majority cited Klaar’s Engagement Surveys module (of course majority of the HR Leaders we speak with are our customers).
Klaar’s Engagement Insights don’t wait for resignations. They connect data across Performance, 1:1s, Continuous Feedback, and more to flag risk trends and nudge managers. Because retention isn’t HR’s secret weapon. It’s everyone’s shared responsibility.
Dear Kelly: You’ve vented to a friend. You’ve laughed with your team. Now tell Kelly. Dear Kelly is collecting the real-world HR stories that deserve to be told - the messy, painfully familiar ones. Drop yours here. Your story might even inspire the next edition.
Just When Things Were Settling Down…
Friday, 6:42 p.m - the last Friday before the Holidays
Maya appeared at her door again - “A manager in Sales just matched a counteroffer. Twenty percent bump. No approval.”
Kelly looked up from her screen. “What? We don’t have the budget for this!.”
“We need to intervene right now.”
She sighed. “Can it wait till Monday?”
Kelly seemed to read Maya’s face without her having to say anything “You know it can’t.”
.svg)
.svg)