Why Do Good Employees Quit Their Jobs?


Filed under: Business Tips


Stop Losing Valuable Employees!

Employee turnover can cost businesses valuable time and money, and harms productivity over the long run. And yet, many company managers are seriously uninformed about the reasons employees tend to quit their jobs.

I QuitIt’s a common misconception that money is always the motivating factor. A recent Gallup poll of one million workers found that only 22 percent mentioned their monetary compensation as the reason for quitting. Seventeen percent – nearly one in five respondents – reported that poor management or work environment caused them to leave their jobs. In other words, many people aren’t quitting their jobs; they’re quitting their bosses.

Common behaviors exhibited by bad bosses include: bullying, lack of respect for legal rights of employees, harassment, discrimination, invasion of employee privacy, and general incompetence. Many bosses may even be unaware that they are, in fact, bad at motivating or supervising their employees. Many employees feel as if they have no power to change the situation, and quit their jobs when the daily stress becomes too much to handle. At times this comes as a complete surprise to managers.

Even bosses who promote a generally agreeable atmosphere could be making decisions which contribute to employee turnover. Consider the following statistics from the same Gallup poll:

  • 32 percent of employees left their jobs for career opportunities or advancement elsewhere
  • 22 percent were lured away by better pay or benefits at another company
  • 20 percent reported “lack of job fit”
  • 8 percent left their jobs due to inflexibility in their work hours

At first glance, these issues don’t seem to be related to poor management. Yet, with greater flexibility in approach to work hours, bosses could keep that valuable employee who simply needs to leave early on Tuesdays for their child’s softball game. A little creative thinking could create employee benefits which don’t hurt the bottom line. A boss who recognizes and rewards employee strengths could promote better “job fit” or create opportunities for advancement from within.

The bottom line is that most supervisors could benefit from management training. There is always room for improvement, and what is good for the boss is good for the company as a whole.

Need more information?  Want to discuss this issue with a professional?  Contact Jim McLaughlin at (951) 225-2179 or jim@morrisonmcnabb.com.

Source:  http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/106912/Turning-Around-Your-Turnover-Problem.aspx