We live in a swipe-right, job-hop every 18-months kind of world. New is exciting. Fast is celebrated. But what if staying — really staying — was the radical move?
At BAM, we’ve been asking ourselves: What if this is your place for the next 10, 20, even 30 years? Not sitting in the same title or role forever, but committing long-term to growth, to the work, and to each other. Committing to the belief that building something great takes time.
2020 cracked something open. We saw what flexibility could look like. We had hard conversations with ourselves about meaning, health, and how we spend our time.
For a moment, it felt like the workplace might actually evolve. More autonomy. More trust. More humanity. Some companies leaned in. But many quietly slipped back into old patterns of rigidity, micromanagement, and performative culture.
That rollback is pushing people out. Not because they’re entitled (contrary to popular belief), but because they’ve seen the alternative and they’re not willing to settle. So the cycle continues: Employees keep one foot out the door. Leaders accept churn as normal. And everyone loses.
Why do people leave fast?
Most workplaces haven’t earned long-term trust because:
- People are burned out and don’t feel heard
- Growth paths are unclear and uninspiring
- Culture is all perks but no substance
- Authenticity isn’t safe
- The company's vision feels disconnected from reality
What happens when people stay?
When people stay, you stop reinventing the wheel every year. You build real relationships. There's less performing, more creating. More trust, more honesty, and more risk-taking is where the best work lives. Long-term teams know each other's strengths and blind spots.
People stay when:
- Their work aligns with what they care about
- They’re seen as whole humans, not just employees
- They feel trusted, stretched, and supported
- They can grow without needing to leave
- They’re building something that matters
- Their lives outside of work are valued just as much
But it’s not about locking people in. It’s about creating a culture where people want to stay. Fun fact: the average tenure for a BAM employee today is 4.7 years. That’s significantly longer than the national average for Millennials (2.9 years) and Gen Z (2.3 years). We’re proud of that. But more importantly, we’re proud of why people stay.
What are we doing differently at BAM?
We’re designing for long-term commitment, not just short-term retention. That means:
Purpose.
Every employee creates a personal purpose statement. It’s a daily reminder to infuse meaning into our work, and to stay connected to what matters most.
Growth.
We don’t rely on annual performance reviews to develop our people. We invest early and often through coaching, peer pods (small collaborative learning groups), and weekly L&D sessions.
Trust.
We make space for real conversations — about what’s working, what’s not, and what’s hard to say. We’re not promising Utopia. We’re promising real work with real people who really care.
Flexibility.
We expect people to ebb and flow through different seasons of life and work. We don’t punish that. We support it proactively and with heart.
A Personal Note
As someone who’s worked across plenty of industries and workplaces, I know how rare it is to find a company worth growing with. That’s what we’re building here. We may not be your forever job, but we just might be your work of a lifetime.
— Jill Veglahn, Head of People at BAM
LEAVE A COMMENT