Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Why Do Employees Seek Greener Pastures?




Often, there are subtle signs that employees are unhappy with their jobs. But, do you, as the President/CEO or member of the leadership team notice? More importantly, do you want to notice? Or, would you rather be kept in the dark until employees start resigning? As you know, the cost to replace employees is much more than keeping current employees engaged and recognized.

In Leigh Branham’s book, The Seven Hidden Reasons Employees Leave, How to Recognize the Subtle Signs and Act Before It’s Too Late, readers must face the truth: Employees don’t jump ship for greener pastures because they receive amazing offers. Instead, they are pushed out the door by the lack of trust in senior leadership, culture, salary, benefits, etc. The reality is, if leaders within companies did more to show how much they value their employees, they would keep their employees – and keep them happy.

“As the saying goes, People join companies, but they leave managers. Sometimes, they leave companies and the senior leaders who run these companies too. It is the senior leaders who set the direction, who shape the culture, who approve the pay ranges and the training budgets, whose demands bring excessive stress and overwork, and whose strategies bring either growth (and career growth opportunities) or stagnation.”

According to Branham, after much research, here are the seven reasons employees leave:

[1] The job or workplace was not as promised.

[2] There was a mismatch between job and person.

[3] There was too little coaching and feedback.

[4] There were too few growth and advancement opportunities.

[5] Workers felt devalued and unrecognized.

[6] There was stress from overwork, conflict, and work-life imbalance.

[7] Workers had lost trust and confidence in senior leaders.

Consider recent departures from your company – whether from termination or resignation – and ask yourself, which of these reasons was applicable? Some light bulbs probably came on. Perhaps, you can make some improvements.

Consider expressions of appreciation. How often do you thank your employees? From letting an employee leave early one day to a gift card for dinner for two at a local restaurant, there are many ways to thank an employee for his or her great work. However, the longer you wait to actually do something, the more likely that you will forget and the employee will lose respect for you as a leader and supervisor. And if you want to thank a large team, bring in pizza for the team. Yes, it really is that easy!
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Want to know how much a new employee will cost? Use this turnover cost calculator:

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