14 | Retention Is a Systems Outcome: Rethinking Workforce Stability in ABA with Dr. Manny Rodriguez Artwork

The People Contingency | Avoid Staff Turnover in ABA

What happens when the people part doesn’t go to plan? This podcast tackles the realities of building, managing, and sustaining people systems—especially in mission-driven fields like autism care, healthcare, and education. We cover recruiting, training, HR systems, psychological safety, and retention. Expect honest conversations about what actually works to hire better, support teams, and lead with purpose—without losing sight of the humans behind the work.

All Episodes

The People Contingency | Avoid Staff Turnover in ABA

14 | Retention Is a Systems Outcome: Rethinking Workforce Stability in ABA with Dr. Manny Rodriguez

January 21, 2026 • Holli Clauser • Season 1 • Episode 14

Every field has a story about why people leave. In ABA, we often point to burnout, productivity pressure, or not enough “buy-in” from staff. And those things are real. But according to Organizational Behavior Management expert Dr. Manny Rodriguez, they’re rarely the root cause.

With over 20 years of experience guiding leaders across Fortune 500 companies, startups, schools, and human service organizations, Manny has seen this pattern repeat itself over and over again. Turnover, disengagement, and leadership fatigue are not personal failures. They are predictable outcomes of poorly designed systems.

In this episode, Manny breaks down why organizations keep treating workforce issues like motivation problems instead of design problems, how leadership behavior is shaped by the systems around it, and what it actually looks like to build environments where people can succeed without burning out.

Drawing from his work as Director of Strategic Growth at Puzzle Box Academy and his decades in OBM, Manny walks through how small system changes can create meaningful shifts in staff behavior, supervisor capacity, and organizational stability.

In this conversation, Manny explores:

Why most retention issues are systems problems, not people problems
How organizational design unintentionally reinforces burnout and avoidance
What leaders often misunderstand about motivation and accountability
Why overwhelmed supervisors are a signal of system failure, not weakness
How to identify which behaviors your systems are really reinforcing
What “making work easier” actually looks like through an OBM lens
How values break down when systems punish ethical or effective behavior
Why sustainable change starts with redesigning conditions, not demanding more effort

Ideas Worth Sharing

“A leader is one that spends time with their people and helps them, mentors them, shapes them for growth.” – Dr. Manny Rodriguez

“Never underestimate the power of social reinforcement.” – Dr. Manny Rodriguez

"If you have a supervisor who doesn't know where those limits are, it's not the supervisor's fault... the organization did something wrong, meaning they did not arm that supervisor with the proper, clear expectations." – Dr. Manny Rodriguez

“Any day that goes by, any week that goes by, if you haven't spoken to your staff member, if you haven't spoken to your colleague or to your boss, something's already missed.” – Dr. Manny Rodriguez

Resources Mentioned

Stop fighting workforce challenges. Start outsmarting them. Join us at the ABA C.A.R.E.S. Summit and transform how you lead, staff, and grow your organization.