In Zimbabwe and other high-unemployment economies, retention is often treated as proof of strong culture and good leadership. That assumption is dangerously flawed.

In this episode, we unpack why people stay even when they’re disengaged, how labour-market scarcity distorts retention metrics, and why organisations confuse stability with health. We explore how risk-avoidance, delayed talent decisions, and fear of exposure quietly erode capability while headcount remains unchanged.

If your people aren’t leaving, the real question is not why they stay, it’s whether they would choose to stay if they had options.

Staff surveys are supposed to build engagement, but here’s the irony: when handled poorly, they actually create fear and disengagement.

In this episode of People & Platforms, Carlo-Marcel Dube unpacks the hidden dynamics behind staff surveys the promise of anonymity, the fear of reprisal, and the way managers often mishandle team debriefs. Instead of building trust, surveys can erode it when leaders take feedback personally or turn results into blame sessions.

Because surveys don’t build trust. Leaders do.

Performance management is supposed to drive growth, development, and accountability. But let’s be honest in most organisations, it has become compliance theatre.

In this episode of People & Platforms, Carlo-Marcel Dube unpacks why performance management often feels like a corporate game instead of a growth tool.

Key Insight: Performance without learning and development is a dead end.

This is a call-out to HR, managers, and leaders: stop treating performance management as paperwork. Redesign it to create real growth, or accept that you’re running a game no one believes in.