Why people are quitting their jobs

 Nowadays more and more people are changing jobs in a blink of an eye. Some times this is happening because employees want to try something new, follow a new path in there career, go back to studies, follow their loved once across the globe or stay home with their family; none of those factors is something that a company can predict or do something about them since they involve the employee’s personal life and personal decisions about their lives, however, most of the times there are other reasons why an employee will leave their job and the employer plays a crucial role in that decision. Some factors which will determine if an employee will stay or leave the company are the organization’s culture, environment, and how an employee sees their job and their growth within this organization.

Reasons why an employee would leave are the followings:

Boss /Manager

The expression “employees do not leave jobs, they leave bosses/managers” is very popular for a reason. A bad boss is the most common reason why employees quit.

A very common mistake companies are making, is to assume that a person who’s doing an exceptional work in their current position, will do the same job if they become managers, however, the skills and employee needs to perform in, for example, an IT position are very different than those a manager requires. Companies which are falling to understand that, promote employees to managerial positions without providing them first with the necessary tools – training and guidance on how to manage their teams, can lead to managers / bosses who are not able to motivate their employees, point them in the right direction or provide them with proper feedback.

Even though employees don’t have to be friends with their managers they do need to have a friendly relationship in order to be able to better work together. When this relationship is shaky, employees do not want to engage or to commit to the organization. Thus, companies need to ensure that people in managerial positions are people-oriented and able to understand their team’s needs.

Management’s Recognition of Employee Job Performance

For most of the employees recognition is very important. The lack of it can affect many different aspects including the organization’s culture. Providing recognition and appreciation is adding to the employees efforts. Companies which tend to recognize their employees efforts are having less turnovers and are able of keeping their best talents for longer. The employer should be aware that they are dealing with a skilled person and motivate them to engage in the development of the company. Talent management is about identifying and supporting the development of the most talented employees to implement the company’s plans. The lack of talent management in companies means that the most talented employees usually leave their companies.

In addition, when employees do not feel appreciated, are taking the decision of leaving easier. Employee engagement is extremely important in today’s workplace, but it should go further than bringing pizza to work. Appreciated and recognized can come to many different forms such as payment, positive feedback for a job well done, keeping promises ( especially those around end-of-year bonuses), including employees in business' decisions etc. When those behaviors are not followed, employees can feel the toxic environment. In addition, the acknowledgment of the employee’s hard work will grow their loyalty to the organization since they will feel valued.

Work-life balance

In our days more employees are after work-life balance. Many times, companies are failing to understand their employees' needs which can be as simple as having a bowl of fresh fruit in the break room up to be able to spend more time with their families. Even now there are many companies which are expecting from their employees to work crazy number of hours without considering their employees needs. Little things that emphasize the importance of work-life balance go a long way toward making employees feel a valuable asset to the company. Companies which want to allow their employees to have a balance, usually listen to their employees' concerns and are open to feedback of how they can improve their working environment.

Employees feel bored and unchallenged

Since most of the people are spending half of their day in their work, they want to enjoy their job and have that feeling of making something meaningful. No one wants to be bored and unchallenged by their work. Employees want to feel that they are able to contribute in something bigger than themselves. Even good employees need to feel challenged in their work especially from their managers otherwise they are reaching a point where this job has nothing else to offer them. In order to avoid that, managers are those who need to ensure that their team members are engaging, feel challenged and creative.

Lack of Opportunities to Use Their Skills and Abilities / grow

Employees want to develop and grow their skills. When they do so, they are feeling self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment. Moreover, showing to an employee that the company is invested in their growth will allow them to see a potential future with the organization and provide a sense of future job security. Good employees always want to continue moving up, forward, earning more, learning more, etc. If they can not receive this sense from their current position they are tend to search it elsewhere.

Learning and upskilling can not only be achieved inside the classroom; mentoring, volunteering, social learning, new projects are just few examples of how employees can gain new knowledge. Thus, managers need to make sure that they are talking with the employees and they know their hopes and dreams. Help them create a clearly defined path to achieving them.

Autonomy and Independence on the Job

Companies are trying to promote autonomy and independence, however, is not something that they can just give to the employees. In order to do so, managers need to trust their team members otherwise they end up micromanage them, constantly questioning their decisions and requiring them to seek approval on everything they do. Employees who are good on their job do not need this level of oversight and usually end up feeling stress, anxious and not respected. Managers’ job is to trust and guide the team. Only then the team members will be able to perform in a higher level and they will want to stay in that team.

Knowledge About Your Organization’s Financial Stability

Employees need to be familiar with the organization’s finances. When an organization is facing financial instability (lack of sales, salary froze, hiring froze etc) employees tend to worry and they are loosing trust. Those who are more worried, are those who will leave first. In order to avoid that, businesses should inform the employees about the company’s current position and future plans and try to address employees’ concerns. That way, employees will trust the management team and they will try to support the company.

Overall Corporate Culture

While it’s not the top item on employee’s lists, the overall culture of your company makes a difference for employees. Managers should create an environment where employees will feel welcome and themselves. Furthermore, employees appreciate a workplace in which communication is transparent, management is accessible, executives are approachable and respected, and direction is clear and understood. In addition, managers should offer feedback on a regular basis and talk with employees about career goals at least once a year. By doing so, they could easier catch and correct a problem while they will make the employees feel that the managers care about their career future.