How to Address Factors that ‘Push Out’ Employees

In this day and age, every business leader should be aware of the detrimental impact of voluntary turnover. The constant churn of employees “can generate both explicit and implicit costs for companies” (Source: Clark 2018) – including recruitment costs and loss of institutional knowledge. And the ongoing Great Resignation phenomenon continues to amplify the exodus of stakeholders from their employers (Source: Bove 2022).

While most employers are tempted to address just the symptoms of turnover (i.e., spend tons of money on retention bonuses), it’s more effective for them to tackle the underlying causes. These causes constitute a series of ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors that influence an employee’s decision to leave a company.

‘Pull factors’ lure employees toward a different company with promises of better pay or benefits, while ‘push factors’ constitute internal conditions that compel employees to leave (e.g., poor management, burnout) (Source: Orr 2021). Despite the former being outside an employer’s control, ‘push factors’ are areas where business leaders can definitely intervene – in an effort to stem voluntary turnover.

Different Types of ‘Push’ Factors

‘Push’ factors include any issues that seem to ‘push’ employees out of their companies. These factors generally occur in two main levels: team-level and organizational-level. Below is a more in-depth overview of the most common factors that compel employees to look for opportunities elsewhere.

Team-Level ‘Push Factors’

Managers are considered ‘drivers’ of the employee experience – so their behavior has a direct impact on employee retention and turnover. Unsavory tactics (e.g., micro-managing) can create friction in the ‘manager-employee’ relationship and sour an employee’s work experience. Regardless of how much they may enjoy their job, terrible management can enhance an employee’s intentions to leave; people don’t leave bad jobs, but rather bad managers (Source: Kelly 2019).

Additionally, ‘scope creep’ can also increase voluntary turnover. If an employee is working beyond their defined duties (whether they elected to or otherwise), this creates a workload imbalance that will lead to burnout; eventually this burnout will lead to voluntary turnover, since they’re unable to return to a balanced workload.

Organizational-Level ‘Push Factors’

Based on a recent MIT study, a toxic work environment is considered the primary predictor of voluntary turnover. Ranging from interpersonal conflict to favoritism to outright bullying, tension at work is not healthy for either employees or the company’s bottom line. However, many companies experience some degree of workplace toxicity that decimates their retention efforts.

On a more gradual note, lack of opportunities for employee development and interaction also fuels turnover intentions. Since the average employees devotes a large chunk of their week to work, they are bound to crave some type of professional development or personal interaction with their colleagues at some point. However, a lot of companies still fail to offer any development or engagement opportunities; this prevents employees from forming any type of attachment to the company – compelling them to look elsewhere (Source: Clark 2022).

How to Intervene

Despite the series of ‘push factors’ that plague different companies, there are several ways that leaders can intervene – before employees decide to leave. Here are some recommended approaches that companies can take to address and rectify employee ‘push factors’ in a proactive manner:

Team-Level Intervention

Address bad management tactics by introducing and requiring training for all managers with direct reports. Be sure to include several courses that cover ‘manager-employee’ interactions – such as emotional intelligence, communication styles, and conflict resolution. You can require all managers to complete this training during their onboarding process, as well as annual ‘refresher’ courses. Also, feel free to implement manager feedback mechanisms for employees to leverage. Whether it be included in your engagement surveys or on the intranet, enable employees to provide real-time, honest feedback about any management issues they experience. These approaches will not only equip managers with effective supervisorial skills, but it will help identify any unsavory management tactics for investigation.

When it comes to ‘scope creep’, there are several actions that companies can take. Managers should be instructed to ask employees about their perceived workload on a regular basis (i.e., during their touch bases). This will enable an employee to indicate if they’re feeling overwhelmed and need assistance – allowing the manager to explore options for workload redistribution. Additionally, teams can consider some type of short-term, ‘job sharing’ arrangement to mitigate burnout. This can provide a reprieve for overworked employees – allowing them to regain a sense of work-life balance and potentially explore other interests (Source: Lorch 2021).

Organizational-Level Intervention

Although it’s difficult to purge workplace toxicity overnight, senior leaders can play a pivotal role. Improving top-down communication throughout the company is an essential first step – including companywide messaging, town halls, and team meetings. This also constitutes creating and enforcing a zero-tolerance policy of detrimental workplace behavior (e.g., bullying). Similarly, leaders can introduce (or reaffirm) core company values to employees – highlighting how positive behaviors align with the organizational culture. These tactics should help gradually transform the work environment for the better.

As it pertains to development, companies should invest in programs that can enrich the employee experience. Identifying and purchasing a robust learning management system (LMS) is a surefire way to acquire internal training courses for your employees. These platforms offer expansive catalogs of interactive educational offerings to help further develop employees’ professional skillsets (Source: Glatkauskas 2020). Additionally, companies should also launch employee programs that help foster connections within the organization. Creating employee-centric programs with either a professional focus (e.g., mentorship) or personal focus (e.g., engagement committees, employee resource groups) are instrumental ways to help foster interpersonal connections for employees (Source: Clark 2022). These approaches are key ways for companies to proactively enrich the employee experience.

Conclusion

The various ‘push’ factors that enhance voluntary turnover can be effectively addressed by business leaders. Whether it be tackling these issues at the organizational or team level, proactive actions need to be taken to help mitigate turnover intentions and improve employee retention. Failure to do so will not only boost voluntary turnover, but it could also foster a far-reaching case of ‘turnover contagion’. Companies that invest time and resources into enriching the employee experience are more likely to experience a reduction in voluntary turnover and boosted retention – enabling them to become more profitable in the long-run.