Progress is good, we should indeed recognize that things have improved, and you're right to say it. But complacency is the enemy of progress. As long as there a

Progress is good, we should indeed recognize that things have improved, and you're right to say it. But complacency is the enemy of progress. As long as there are valid reasons to complain, then people should keep constructively pointing out the flaws. A complaint is not a negative thing. It is the very driver of the same progress that you want people to recognize. If we'd like more of that in the future, then it is simply good and right to keep going. If you want to try to do better by letting people keep a paycheck on a lower responsibility role until you push them out, it'd be better to have a system where the offboarding period is explicit, communicated amiably, and transparent. That could just take the form of severance pay, or it could be something new. If on the other hand you're just avoiding confrontation and hoping sufficient misery will make the problem go away, there's nothing virtuous about this. You don't get to ask for gratefulness in that situation.