The Cold Hard Truth Why Your Staff Is Leaving And What You Can Do About It

Sure, many employers have just accepted high turnover as common in the working world. And then they shell out the resources to hire again and again and again. Some of this attrition is completely preventable, and you can do something about it!

Let’s be clear, though. In order to rectify the issue, first you have to understand the cold hard truth of why employees leave in the first place.?

The Cold Hard Truth: The Times Are Changing

Gone are the days of employees putting up with a job they don’t like just to get a reliable paycheck. Many of today’s employees want something more out of their jobs than just a salary. So what do they want? A job and a company that provide a good cultural fit for them. In fact, nearly nine in 10 Americans consider “good culture fit” to be important when considering a new job.?

And if your employees don’t feel like there is a good cultural fit, they’ll look for a new job. The numbers prove it too.?

At Workzinga, we hired an independent research company to survey working professionals. From this we know if an employee felt the culture wasn’t a good fit, they only stuck around with the company for an average of one to two years. Many employees are even willing to move out of state for a company with a great culture. And they also find good cultural fit more important than a short commute and on the same level of importance as a 401k, more vacation days and a job title that matches their skill level.?

And this is how employers get stuck in the constant hiring rut.? Constantly hiring employees who are not aligned with your company’s culture starts everyone off on the wrong foot.?

Negative Nuances

Our research has found negative consequences of this poor cultural alignment, which ultimately are the driving reasons behind employees giving their two weeks notice. One of the biggest negative repercussions poor cultural fit has on employees is on their mental wellbeing. A whopping 85% of women and 77% of men said a job with poor cultural fit has had a negative impact on their mental wellbeing. It doesn’t just impact the happiness of employees in their jobs…well over 70% reported it also causes a decline in motivation at work. (83% of women and 74% of men) 5% of women and 68% of men).? Employee dissatisfaction is hitting your bottom line in more than ways than you realize.

Positive Payoffs

But when the core values of a company and those of its employee align, there are major benefits for both! We found that most said they would stay with a company longer if they liked the company culture--and nearly twice as long, in fact!?

So why do they stick around longer? A good cultural fit increases their job satisfaction. Beyond getting? a paycheck, its self-fulfillment and the satisfaction that they are working for something bigger than just themselves. And for those who’ve experienced a good cultural fit at work, over 90% of women and men say it has had a positive impact on mental well being and their productivity! Increased productivity and decreased recruiting costs - clearly a win for any employer.

The Cultural Test

Most job seekers find it hard to determine if a job will be a good cultural fit before applying. Another 40% say that the jobs recommended to them on job search platforms don’t feel customized to them. And that wish for job search tools to make it easier to find jobs based on cultural fit breaks down pretty evenly among the generations, with 60% of Millennials saying they wish it was easier, 56% of Baby Boomers, 55% of Gen Zers and 54% of Gen Xers. And job seekers agree that they wouldn’t waste time applying to jobs that had a bad cultural fit if there’s a tool to make it easier to assess company culture.?

The good news is, there is a tool coming soon that will make it easier for job seekers to assess company culture plus it can help your company avoid hiring people who will just end up leaving in 2 years or less!?

Workzinga’s goal is to make the hiring process a better and more positive experience for everyone. Our assessment helps job seekers and companies find cultural matches. Are there personality tests out there currently used in the hiring process? Sure, but none of them provide the holistic view and comprehensive array of insights like Workzinga. So stop wasting time on putting up with high turnover due to poor cultural fit.

You can start making smarter hires with Workzinga!