Why Workers Quit

Excerpted from SHRM HR Daily Newsletter: authored by Roy Mauer December 12, 2018, “Why are Workers Quitting Jobs in Record Numbers”

Some survey results show money as the biggest motivator driving employees to seek other jobs, while others show career growth to be the primary incentive.

The majority (44 percent) of respondents recently polled by Monster cited the need to earn more money as the main reason they're looking for a new job.

The average increase in compensation for a worker who quits one job for another is about 15 percent, according to Brian Kropp, group vice president of the HR practice at global research and advisory firm Gartner.

"Most studies report that employees leave their current jobs for better-paying positions, and one of the best ways to combat turnover is to ensure that pay in your organization is both externally competitive and internally equitable," said Kent Plunkett, CEO of Salary.com.

But other research tells a different story. In the Mercer study, promotion opportunities and career changes were given as two of the top reasons most workers (especially members of Generation X and Millennials) quit their jobs. Interestingly, the emerging Generation Z workforce cited returning to school and base salary as the most prevalent reasons for leaving a job. Secondary reasons overall included issues related to benefits, fit with the organization or the job, and relationship problems with direct supervisors or managers.

The Work Institute found that career development, work/life balance and bad managers are consistently the top issues that push employees to job hop, with compensation cited in only 9 percent of exit interviews. That's not to say that pay is not important; reasons for quitting related to compensation and benefits have increased by more than 26 percent since 2010.

And among those who leave in the first year, compensation, work schedules and type of work are the top reasons given for moving on. "This reveals that basic aspects of the employee/employer relationship should be clearly communicated and understood at the time of hiring," Nelms said. "The fact that nearly one-fourth of employees who left within their first year did so due to job basics seems to indicate that employers are either not communicating the details of the job, the schedule and the pay, or employers are so desperate to hire workers that they are not hiring employees who are a good fit for the job."

What Employers Can Do About It

Nelms suggested that employers take steps to understand the needs, preferences and goals of their employees, focusing on new hires. "Employers need to set more-realistic expectations and follow through to deliver on those expectations to improve retention of new hires," Nelms said. "Employee feedback should be solicited, and onboarding and other training should be evaluated to better understand where employers are not meeting the expectations of newly hired employees."

Betancourt added that HR should work on improving work flexibility, career pathing and learning opportunities. "A clear career trajectory with guidance on how to achieve goals is [something] current employees look for in a company," she said. "If you don't invest in them, how can you expect them to invest in you?" 

She added that people will take advantage of learning and development opportunities that are available to them. "Not only does creating these opportunities demonstrate that your organization values lifelong learning, but it shows that you want your employees to be on top of industry changes and trends. From coaching sessions, training programs, lunch and learns and more, it's crucial to an organization's retention efforts to be providing these opportunities on a monthly or bimonthly basis."