12 Reasons Why Employees Quit
A big problem that most companies go through without stopping to think about, is their high turnover rate. Like the saying, “most friendships come and go”- the same applies to employees. Despite it being a popular belief and saying, the real problem that lies here is that companies don’t tackle the core reason as to why it even exists.
Most managers would believe it’s because of the changing dynamics of the workforce, where employees roll in and out. This perspective of the workforce will have managers constantly rolling recruitment to hire new employees. Of course, this task is done without question as they know it’s a constant given with building a team.
Despite recruitment being one of the core functions of HR in a company, the focus for HR in today’s modern society lies pressing with other important functions. Training, development, recognition and rewards are just a few areas to mention for focus that HR should look further upon. In saying so, the dynamics of HR have shifted importance upon retention for existing employees. In today’s time it’s about looking at ways to keep what’s important rather than replace what was important.
In order to begin implementing ways to keep good employees under your company umbrella, it starts with understanding why employees leave to begin with. When you understand the underlying reason as to what drives them away, you can tackle these problem areas. Tackling these problem areas first, will ultimately prevent the overall result of employees submitting in a resignation letter and a wave goodbye out the door.
12 Reasons Why Employee Quit
1. Management hires the wrong people
It’s as simple as not selecting the right people who presumably don’t align with the organisation’s values. Without this alignment between a potential employee and the company’s value, you can’t expect their commitment to go far.
2. Overworking them
Everyone has their limits (surprisingly). There’s only so much a person can do in a given amount of time. This is something most managers don’t look upon because they’re too caught up with the fact that they need the job done. They look at the situation from this perspective rather than looking at whether it’s feasible for the employee with what time and energy they have left.
3. Their efforts are not recognised
Feeling taken for granted is not a good feeling (if you’ve ever suffered from this, you would know exactly how that feels). As a manager, know that simple words such as “thank you” “great job” and “you did great” is all that it takes you keep your employees feeling their worth in your organisation and more importantly, happy.
4. No rewards come with being recognised
Now this one doesn’t have to come with every piece of recognition you give your employee. Rewards can come in different forms and usually they come not as frequently as recognition. The importance is understanding that they do need to come – It’s just about knowing what type of reward and when to give it.
5. It’s clear that there is no care between employees and employers
Caring in the workforce can be shown in different ways. If it’s clear that you don’t empathise and share any concern (whether it be with personal or professional matters), it’s likely that your employee will feel unimportant. There needs to be a relationship established between the two for communication and growth.
6. Employees are not being developed
This point stresses the fact that some employers don’t prioritise developing their employees. It could be in the form of putting them through training or teaching them a few new things to apply to their everyday work. If you’re not willing to put in time and effort in building your employee, there’s nothing for them to work with to give back to you.
7. Not allowing your employees to be creative
Of course, most companies have protocol to stand by and there’s always a “way of doing things”. This notion however, restricts your employees. You put your employees through a bubble where they’re unable to be free with their thoughts and ideas. Creativity is what builds and adds to growth. If you don’t allow for creativity, how do you expect to grow?
8. Work is not challenging enough
If you’re providing your employees work that doesn’t stimulate their thought processes a bit further, there’s no fun in that. Of course, challenges need to be within your employees’ capabilities and should not be unreasonable to complete. Allowing your employees to apply themselves willingly at work is what helps them mentally stimulate themselves.
9. Employers don’t actively support employees and their passions/dreams
Everyone has their own passion and dream – they’re also quite different to one another. The reason why employees go after specific organisations to work for is because it’ll help them achieve their dreams in some sort of way. Some dreams may be beyond what the workplace can provide, but what makes your employees understand that you and the company care for them is that you urge them to persist with their dreams. How? By providing them the resources and encouragement to do so.
10. Employers don’t respect employees’ commitments
Each and every person is busy in their own way, depending on their schedule. In order for your employee to give you the best will mean you giving them time to give you their best. It’s about understanding what else they’re working towards and allowing them the time to work on multiple tasks with given time – whether they be your tasks or not.
11. Your attitude as an employer
Surprisingly, people work for people (and not organisations!). As an employer, your attitude towards your employees is a huge make or break for an employee at work. Your approach, guidance and style of coaching and managing is a big determinant on whether your employee will stay with you or not. To put it in a simpler perspective, if you’re rude and blunt and clearly an a** you’re likely to see your employees hate you enough to leave.
12. There is no sense of belonging
This comes down to how well you provide a comfortable environment for your employees to work in. It could be as easy as holding regular team lunches and dinners or activities to keep everyone united and understanding each other on a more personal level. This is what keeps a sense of “family” within the organisation going.
For those who have left an organisation recently, you may or may not realise that the above points are some of the reasons as to why you left. For managers, you now have a clear line with why employees look like they’re heading backwards and out the door. As a manager in the 21st century, let’s look towards retaining rather than replacing the right employees.
