Top 5 reasons people quit their jobs the previous year

With actionable insights on how to deal with it in 2024

Hello! This is a new edition of Elatra's digest, and today we will cover a topic that remains as crucial for HR leaders as ever — talent management and retention.

Understanding the reasons why employees quit their jobs is essential for organizations looking to enhance their retention strategies. Here, we highlight the top 5 reasons people quit, based on the “2023 Global HR Research Report” by Betterworks, with meaningful insights on how to address them effectively in 2024.

Top 5 reasons people quit (according to the “2023 Global HR Research Report”)

The previous year, the focus on pay increased even more than usual (51%) as the top reason for leaving a job. This is not surprising, given the concerns of a coming recession.

Anyway, development concerns have ascended and are top-of-mind. This is confirmed by the fact that more than half of employees don’t see a path for advancement in their current company. Career advancement is the second reason people are thinking of leaving in 2023 (35%), followed by professional growth (34%) and wanting a better company culture (30%).Flexibility of work has dropped to the last place.

Overall, a majority of people like working for their companies. The bad news is they might leave if employers can’t give them the opportunities they need. We have summarized several actionable insights on how to retain employees in 2024, according to the research.

1. Focus on career development to avoid the retention cliff

The current employee deal is about more than pay and rewards. Now it includes skills development, purpose, fairness, inclusion, culture, and more. It comprises the totality of the employee experience, covering health and financial well-being and long-term career aspirations.Despite employees liking their companies and wanting to stay, they express frustration over limited growth opportunities and insufficient support from managers. To retain talent, companies should provide a clear path for internal career growth and skills development, as these factors rank high in employee decision-making.

2. Build a fair relationship with employees?

The research data highlights the increasing importance of social aspects at work, where employees want to feel valued and recognized as a part of a supportive team.?

When employees feel they are not being treated fairly, there is a knock-on effect on productivity and engagement — resulting in the long-standing phenomenon that has recently been coined as “quiet quitting”, when employees continue to put in the minimum amount of effort to keep their jobs, but don't go the extra mile for their employer. Organizations that address feelings of fairness will have more success in retaining talent and ensuring their people stay engaged, happy, and productive.

3. Strengthen your management core through coaching?

Managers are the linchpin that holds your organization together. Last year’s analysis reveals that employees trust their managers as much as their teammates.

However, some managers, especially inexperienced ones, lack the skills to effectively coach employees for growth and career development. Half of employees (49%) of the research also said they had considered leaving a job because their manager was bad at giving feedback or reviews. The bottom line: your “coaches” need coaching.

Organizations must prioritize providing managers with coaching skills and resources to strengthen employee-manager relationships and support long-term success.

4. Nurture performance of your employees

Employees seek performance enablement to enhance effectiveness and advance their careers. Half of workers who have meaningful performance enablement — including goal-setting and tracking, feedback, and purposeful and ongoing conversations — have far higher levels of optimism, confidence, engagement, and productivity than the half of employees who don’t.

A performance enablement mindset has the ability to change hearts and minds, while also creating a new way of valuing and connecting with employees.

?? It's always challenging to figure out how to boost employee engagement, retention and loyalty within your company.

At Elatra, we have found a solution and created the Talent Insights Report?, which helps you identify opportunities to enhance your talent development strategy.

By integrating data from open sources, our report provides an analysis of your employees' feedback, highlighting key areas of satisfaction and growth benchmarked against your industry peers.

The report is fully complimentary. Please, fill free to order the Talent Insights Report? for your company via the link ????