We hear hundreds of reasons why people choose to leave their job. And while a number of people think the number one driving factor is the dollars, it couldn’t be further from the truth.
While there is no definite number one reason, there are some trends and below are the most common things we hear from job seekers for their motivations to move on:
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Career progression - “they never promoted me” – but did you ask? Do they know how much you want it?
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Their Boss – Let’s face it, most of us spend more time at work than we do with our families, so we want the relationships we have at work to be cool, calm and collected. If you have a high staff turnover, ask yourself if there is anything YOU could be doing differently
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Their colleagues - refer to point 2
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Motivation – “I LOVE DATA ENTRY” has not been said by anyone at any time! 7.5 hours, 5 days a week, for 48 weeks of the year is 1800 hours of your life that you cannot get back. When there is a drop in interest in the job, people will leave. If you have staff in highly repetitive roles, think about some things to break up the day, such as team morning teas, or BBQ’s.
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Recognition – This is a BIG one. If someone is doing a good job, let them know it! But, recognition is not just about rewards and incentives. Sometimes, just giving someone a ‘pat on the back’ and letting them know they are doing a great job, will keep them engaged. People want to feel important, and they like feeling their efforts are making an impact.
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Autonomy – The last time I held hands with someone was in Kindy. Have a little faith and give some latitude to your team and you will quickly see who will rise to the occasion.
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Communication – Drive passion and motivation by communicating with your team about the business, goals and plans. If people are in the dark, they will fear the unknown
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Feedback – “ Am I doing a good job?/ What can I improve on?” – the only way for someone to know and grow is for you to tell them.
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Work/life balance – Live to work or work to live? If I could personally rank a #1, this would be it! Australians are wanting more flexible working environments and with working parents, part-timers, carers and professional contractors, employers need to think about their strategies to keep some quality people in their business. Some employers have started adopting 4-day working weeks, some offering work from home days. Whatever it is, hear your employees out. Quality over quantity is always best
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Pay – YEP- it is on the list. But in my experience, it’s the least of what I hear when people have made the decision to leave. If all other factors being equal, an employee will make sacrifices.
But, if there is a combination of any of the other reasons listed above, AND an employee also feels undervalued, you are in trouble!
