The so-called war for talent is still raging. But in that fight employers continue to rely on the same hiring and retention strategies they’ve been using for decades, even though those approaches aren’t working: People may be enticed to stay a bit longer than they otherwise would have, but they still leave. So why do organizations persist with those strategies? Because they’ve been so focused on challenges such as tight labor markets, relentless cost-cutting pressures, and poaching by industry rivals that they haven’t addressed a more fundamental problem: the widespread failure to provide gratifying work experiences. To stick around and keep giving their best, people need meaningful work; managers and colleagues who value, respect, and trust them; and opportunities to grow, excel, and advance in their careers.

Although managers and their HR colleagues are beginning to understand that employee experience matters for hiring and retention, they haven’t reached anything close to a consensus on what it should look like or how to provide it. Some workplaces invest heavily in wellness benefits and initiatives, with mixed results. Others try (and in many cases struggle) to create effective mentoring or learning and development programs—worthy endeavors but tough to get right if you haven’t identified what employees want from them.

It’s time to step way back from these related but typically uncoordinated efforts so that managers can see and address the larger issue of experience. Over the past 15 years we’ve collectively studied the behavioral patterns of more than a thousand job switchers at all levels and career stages—a racially diverse sample representing a wide range of roles and professions. In interviews, surveys, classroom discussions, consulting engagements, and coaching sessions, we’ve found again and again that employees who quit their jobs do so because they aren’t making the progress they seek in their careers and lives.