Why Your Employees Are Quitting Comes Down to 3 Words

Why Your Employees Are Quitting Comes Down to 3 Words

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Ever wonder why people really?leave?their companies? You may be thinking that the core issue comes down to money.

Let's face it: These days, pay is important to help keep good talent from leaving. But it's not the most important thing.

What I've found is that as important as salaries, bonuses, and perks are for motivating people, the real reason top talent is headed for the exits comes down to three words:

Bosses don't care.

How to Keep Your Talent from Quitting You

Companies may throw them an attractive offer with six figures, but if the environment is atrocious and their boss is a weak leader, they'll still leave. Gallup?research over the years has concluded that around 50 percent of employees leave?their jobs because of ineffective managers.

This haunting fact stares in the face of so many firms irresponsibly placing the wrong people into positions of influence. And then they wonder how they keep getting it wrong.

Start here: Hire leaders, not managers. Actually, not just leaders--human-centered servant leaders. ?Take note: Here's what I've discovered they do, day in and day out, that separates them from mere bosses.

1. Give employees autonomy.

One of the biggest mistakes many bosses make is restricting smart and creative employees to the confines of a static job description. Younger employees desire the freedom to take ownership of their work and use work schedules that intrinsically motivate them.

The evidence is clear that workers with more autonomy will increase?their performance and be more?engaged in their work. But there's a critical balance. Employees still need manager support during difficult situations. Managers can't offer autonomy and disappear.

2. Utilize the "stay interview."

Exit interviews are mediocre at best. What's the point of conducting one when your about-to-be ex-employee has emotionally checked out from the job and has his mind on his?new position with another?company?

Fact is, most people aren't 100 percent honest in exit interviews because they have no confidence in the confidentiality of the process.

Enter the stay interview.?With stay interviews, leaders hold recurring conversations?with their employees to find out?how they are feeling about the organization, asking questions like: "What motivates you to stay here?" and "What may?cause you to leave?"

Leaders will typically find frank feedback and new information to help them?create strategies and solutions to problems that will keep their people from leaving.

3. Show care because it's human to do so.

This seems like total common sense, right? I mean, it's just inherent in our human nature to care for others, right?

You'd think. But caring for people in transactional workspaces is simply not common practice. This is unfortunate because caring for others is an important human prerequisite for any leader to retain and engage their best people.

As the saying goes, "People don't care how much you know?until they know how much you care."

Once leaders begin to let their?employees know that they truly care, employees will begin valuing?their work and their successes as people. Otherwise, anything a leader says to "motivate" someone to be more productive,?more this?or more that, becomes a disingenuous platitude to which people will have an adverse reaction.

The future of leadership is humane.

Leaders who?truly care stay involved with employees and support?them along their career path; they have?conversations early and often and ask focused questions like, "What skills do you need to learn?" and "Whom?do you desire to learn from?"

When backed by action and follow-through, these conversations send?a clear message to employees that their careers, work, and well-being matter. It provides them a?platform to voice their goals and ambitions and the safety to give and get feedback.

Your turn: What leadership approaches would you recommend to address people's needs while making you a more effective leader? Leave a comment, and let's learn from each other.


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Podcast Update

Recently, I sat down with Dr. Jonathan Fisher, MD, FACC , a globally recognized cardiologist and best-selling author of Just One Heart . We discussed the mind-heart connection, and Dr. Fisher walked us through the process of how to cultivate joy, master stress, and live with more vitality.?


After overcoming personal burnout, Dr. Fisher now leads well-being programs for large organizations and speaks internationally on stress reduction and mindfulness.

Click here to listen to the full episode, watch it on YouTube, and read the show notes.

Click here for a post-podcast private conversation in the Green Room for premium subscribers only.



Your Votes for the Subtitle of My Book Are In

Last week, I asked you to vote for the subtitle of my new book, "Humane Leadership," shortened from the original "The Future of Leadership Is Humane." Well, you spoke, and I heard you loudly and clearly. The final vote for the subtitle, based on your collective recommendation, is: Lead with Radical Love and Be a Kick-ass Boss.

Thank you!

And by the way, I'm still giving away a signed copy + a free 60-minute coaching session once the book is released around March. To enter for a chance to win both, subscribe to my Substack and watch for the announcement.


About Marcel Schwantes

Marcel Schwantes is a speaker, executive leadership coach, author, and podcast host with a worldwide following. Join here for updates, exclusive coaching videos, leadership strategies, and more.

Samantha Bedford

COO | Board Chair | Executive Leader I

1 个月

I like the concept of the "stay interview" it's a good, constructive opportunity to reinforce the colleague connection too and if it is indeed open and frank will set a good tone for the "go forward" of the relationship.

Nichole Antonio

Owner @ Antonio Coaching Services & Teacher Coles English Corner | The CoachSulting Specialist | Teacher, Course Developer, Creator, & Administrator

2 个月

Leaders who care foster loyalty—it's about human connection, not just management. ??

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David B. Cox

Information Security Consultant | Penetration Tester | Security Researcher ??| GWU Master's in Cybersecurity | ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Implementer | (ISC)2 CC

2 个月

Well said and probably number one for the majority of industries.The number one reason people are quitting their jobs in healthcare is burnout. The combination of long hours, emotional strain, and overwhelming workloads, often without sufficient support or resources, has led many healthcare workers to leave the profession in search of better work-life balance and less stress. Unless you are a start-up and are expected to work 18 hour days for the first year, then work-life balance is mandatory.

GHAZALI JAMIL

Productivity, Safety, Innovation, People Development

2 个月

Looking from the other side, I encourage people to quit if they are not performing to the level expected to justify the salary paid to them. Instead of continue acting like a bad cancer to the whole team, quitting is the gentleman way before being shown where the highway is soon.

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Bill Fox

Guiding Leaders from the Inside Out | Where Inner Clarity Meets Organizational Excellence | Founder, LeaderONE.org

2 个月

Marcel Schwantes, thanks for this thoughtful post. Speaking from the perspective of my inner leader journey over the past decade and my forward thinking interviews with global leaders, I’d suggest that the real issue behind why employees leave goes deeper than just caring more. On the inner journey, we discover that the root cause often lies in the ego’s influence on both leaders and employees. Leaders, even with the best intentions, often find themselves operating from a place where their sense of worth is tied to external success, control, or validation. In this environment, employees can feel like tools for achieving goals, leading to relationships that seem more transactional than authentic. True care doesn’t come from simply trying to appear empathetic. When leaders are aligned with their inner state and free from ego, they naturally create space where people feel genuinely valued and seen. It’s less about retention strategies and more about fostering authentic connection. This requires doing the inner work to liberate ourselves from conditioning and the ego. Addressing symptoms without looking at these deeper issues will only lead to continued challenges with turnover and disengagement.

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