Im Done: When the Employees Who Keep Things From Falling Apart Call It Quits

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Every workplace has at least one employee who quietly keeps thing from falling apart. These employees find the good in each manager. They patch over awkward processes with time, emotional energy and problem-solving. They translate confusion into action. They make dysfunction workable.

Until one day they don’t.

They still show up. They don’t slam doors or copy HR at midnight. They simply stop covering for poor management and broken systems.

Because so much of what they once did stayed invisible, it takes a while for anyone to notice. Their manager senses something “off,” but can’t point to anything concrete. Problems surface later. Small fires turn into larger ones.

What’s happening isn’t a mystery. These employees have been taken for granted. Their emotional, cognitive and relational labor has gone unseen, even as it kept the organization functioning.

This labor includes absorbing last-minute changes without complaint, softening poorly delivered feedback before it fractures morale, and translating vague priorities into actual plans, and repairing communication gaps others refuse to cross.

All of this requires energy, patience and a willingness to care. When managers treat these behaviors as built-in obligations instead of extra effort, something shifts.

Employees stop donating work.

When managers treat these behaviors as built-in obligations rather than extra work, something shifts.

What should managers do instead?

First, learn to notice extra effort as it happens. Pay attention to who smooths conflict, translates confusion, and absorbs pressure so others can function at their best. Notice who fixes what no one owns. If the same people always step in when things wobble, that is not coincidence.

Second, name it out loud. Extra effort should not disappear into the background. Recognition turns unseen labor into acknowledged work and reminds employees that what they contribute matters. As I wrote in chapter 9 of Managing for Accountability, https://bit.ly/3T3vww8, “Praise costs nothing. It can mean a lot. If your employees are crushing it, thank them.”

Specific recognition makes the different: “I appreciate how you clarified that plan” or “I noticed how you prevented that conversation from going sideways.” Manager statements like this tell employees their extra effort has value and isn’t taken for granted.

Third, reduce the need for extra effort in the first place. If your team relies on constant translation, your priorities are unclear. If your team relies on emotional buffering, your communication needs work. If your team relies on rescue behavior, your timelines or staffing need correction. Extra effort should never replace sound systems. Gratitude alone cannot fix structural strain.

Fourth, protect the people who give the most. When the same employees always stretch, always smooth, and always absorb disruption, they become load-bearing walls. Overreliance on the one or two employees willing to overextend creates organizational risk. The strongest teams share responsibility. Do not confuse quiet overextension with commitment.

Fifth, if appreciation does not come naturally, schedule it. Put reminders on your calendar. Ask your team who deserves credit. Be specific. Be timely. Be genuine. As I wrote in Managing for Accountability, personalized attention “creates and maintains the emotional bond between employees, the manager, and the organization.” Silence weakens that bond faster than conflict ever could.

Finally, extra effort doesn’t appear in job descriptions. Employees give it when they feel noticed, trusted and valued. When that gift disappears, it doesn’t mean employees stopped caring. It means the people who quietly held things together finally stepped back when their effort went unseen.

© 2025 Lynne Curry, PhD, SPHR, SHRM-SCP