When Leadership Fails to Support: Workplace Stress, Motivation Loss, and Turnover Among Landscape Industry Middle Managers

Abstract

Employee turnover remains a persistent organizational challenge with significant implications for employee well-being, organizational effectiveness, and leadership practice. Although the landscape industry experiences particularly high rates of middle manager turnover, limited research has examined how leadership-related experiences influence retention within this sector. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore how workplace stress, motivation loss, and leadership practices contribute to turnover among middle managers in the U.S. landscape industry. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 middle managers representing three large landscape organizations and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings revealed that workplace stress associated with sales expectations, budget pressures, and contract losses contributed to motivation loss and turnover intentions. However, participants consistently framed these challenges within broader experiences of leadership and organizational culture. Across all three organizations, participants described perceptions of inadequate organizational support, limited communication, diminished trust in leadership, unfair accountability practices, and a lack of psychological safety. Viewed through a human-centered leadership lens, the findings suggest that employee retention is influenced not only by workplace demands but also by how employees experience leadership, organizational care, fairness, and support. This study contributes to leadership scholarship by extending understanding of how trust, psychological safety, employee well-being, and perceptions of organizational support shape retention decisions. The findings highlight the importance of leadership approaches grounded in empathy, transparency, ethical care, and relational trust for fostering employee commitment and organizational resilience. Practical implications suggest that organizations seeking to improve retention should prioritize leadership practices that support employee flourishing alongside organizational performance objectives.