Blog post

Identifying Flight Risks Before They Leave: The Early Warning System

Spot behavioral and network signals that predict when employees will leave. Data-driven methods to catch flight risks before they resign.

Last updated: March 2026

PLACEHOLDER

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an employee flight risk?

An employee flight risk is an employee who is likely to voluntarily leave the organization within the near future (typically 3-12 months). Flight risks can include anyone from disengaged employees passively browsing job boards to high performers who've received outside offers. Identifying flight risks early,before they start interviewing,is critical because by the time someone hands in their notice, it's often too late to change their mind.

How do you identify employees who are about to leave?

Flight risk signals fall into three categories: (1) Behavioral,declining meeting participation, reduced responsiveness, pulling back from long-term projects, updating LinkedIn. (2) Performance,sudden drop in output quality or quantity without explanation. (3) Collaboration,reduced connection with colleagues visible in communication and network analysis data. Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) detects the collaboration withdrawal pattern 3-6 months before traditional signals like declining engagement survey scores.

How do you retain employees who are flight risks?

To retain flight-risk employees: (1) Have a direct conversation,ask what they need and what would make them want to stay. Most managers avoid this, but employees often stay if someone cares enough to ask. (2) Address the root cause,compensation, growth, manager relationship, or work-life balance? (3) Provide a concrete development path with timeline. (4) Recognize their impact specifically. (5) Consider retention packages for business-critical roles. Note: not all flight risks are worth retaining. Focus intervention on high-impact employees.

How does ONA help identify flight risks?

Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) identifies flight risks earlier than traditional methods by analyzing collaboration patterns across the organization. When an employee starts withdrawing,attending fewer cross-functional meetings, communicating less with key colleagues, pulling back from informal networks,ONA captures these changes in behavior 3-6 months before they show up in engagement surveys or performance drops. This early warning gives HR and managers time to intervene before the employee is already mentally checked out.