6 Reasons Why Your Employees Abandon You

Your employees quit their jobs for all kinds of reasons. Some are completely out of your control, like when they start a family, but others you can do something about. 

The purpose of this article is to run through some of the reasons your employees abandon you, which aren’t just random “acts of God.” If you have retention issues, then read on. 

Your Staff Don’t Like One Of Your Managers (Or You)

Nobody wants to admit that they made a mistake, but if retention is the name of the game, sometimes you have to ‘fess up. You may have hired a manager based on their performance at interview – something you’re entitled to do. You later found out, however, that not only were they not good at their job, but they were causing employees to leave left, right, and center. 

Bad managers are one of the main reasons people quit their jobs. Data from a recent Gallup poll suggests that poor management practices are behind a whopping 75 percent of the instances people leave firms. Your managers are your number one issue. 

As the company boss, you’re in a bit of a tricky situation. You don’t want to go in and interview colleagues to find out who they like and who they don’t because you’ll undermine trust. At the same time, however, you don’t want to ignore the problem: it costs you money. 

The solution is to find ways to change company culture and management practices. Managers seem to think that they’re school teachers, commanding workers like kids to do their bidding. That’s not their role at all. The job of the manager is to organize productive activity: that’s it. They’re not some truncheon-wielding army officer waiting to dress down the newest recruit. 

Your Staff Can’t Use Their Skills And Abilities

The people you employ are a vast resource. If you’re honest, they’re the only reason you’re in business in the first place; you need them as much as they need you. 

You can begin encountering problems, however, if you don’t let your employees use their skills and talents. The people in your organization usually have more aptitude than you think, and with a little encouragement can produce fabulous results. If you don’t allow them to use their skills, they’ll flounder and eventually get bored. Despite their protestations, most people want a good challenge and feel robbed if you don’t give it to them.

Using your staff’s abilities is one of the easiest things you can do to get people to stay with you. If a worker knows that they can use all their creative talents with you, then it’s much more likely that another firm will be able to poach them with offers of higher pay. It’ll have to be a lot higher to make it worth their while. 

Lack Of Benefits

The majority of people at your firm aren’t financial whizzes, able to optimize their income stream to boost their wealth like robots. They’re just regular people with middle-of-the-road financial skills, not traders making millions through forex swaps. 

It’s crucial, therefore, that businesses offer employee benefits schemes as well as decent salaries. Research suggests that the vast majority of people who work with you would prefer to receive benefits-in-kind than equivalent, higher after-tax pay. Benefits could include things like a company car, health insurance, life insurance, and free membership at a local gym. 

Lack Of Recognition Of Job Performance

Management spends a lot of money hiring people to perform a task, whether it’s implementing a project, doing the company accounts, or marketing the business. Executives, therefore, often don’t see it as their job to personally thank employees and recognize their hard work. 

To be fair, it’s not their job. If you pay your employees well, you expect them to perform on the job, whether they recognize their effort or not. People don’t praise their hairdressers or grocery checkout clerks, so why should you do the same for the services your employees provide? 

This attitude is probably the wrong one. While it’s true that your employees get paid, it’s also true that they’re people too with emotional needs. Like it or not, your colleagues like a metaphorical pat on the back and to be told that they’ve done an excellent job. It’s human nature. If you want to cut the number of people leaving your organization, then consider making recognizing employees a part of your job description. 

Incorrect Appraisal Of The Company’s Financial Standing

People know that companies don’t last forever and often keep a beady eye on the financial performance of the company. Sometimes your company does badly, and people leave – there’s not much you can do about that. There is, however, a lot that you can do to prevent the spread of inaccurate information about your financial position. 

It matters what employees say to each other and read in the press. Your company, therefore, needs to keep everyone in the loop, being open and transparent about its financial position. If you try to keep it a secret or bury the numbers, people will get suspicious and take that as a sign that they should leave. 

A Lack Of Purpose

Finally, the vast majority of people who work for you want to feel as if they’re making a difference in the world. Today’s employers don’t just provide money, but a reason for being too. 

Providing for the economic and philosophical needs of your workforce might sound like a step too far, but think about it this way: the more engaged your workers are, the happier they’ll be. And the happier they are, the more likely they’ll be productive during their time with you. 

Not every business has a higher purpose or calling, but it’s hard to find a private company that doesn’t serve its audience in a meaningful way. People need drain-unblocking services to keep their homes disease-free. Customers need checkout staff so that they can buy food. You can find meaning anywhere if you look hard enough for it. 

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