The Top 4 Reasons Employees Quit

This post, written by Kazim Ladimeji of the Career Cafe, struck a chord with me.

So much so, I wanted to share it word for word with you. It's written with a recruiter in mind but the learnings are just as important for a candidate seeking out a new job.

Here's what Kazim had to say:

"A few years back, PwC published some interesting findings of 19,000 exit interviews within their organization, where one of the key questions that was asked of employees was the simple question, “What was their reason for leaving?” The four most common reasons for leaving their organization were, in order of rank:


1.Limited career/promotion opportunities

2.Supervisor lacked respect/support

3.Compensation

4.Job duties boring/no challenge.

These findings resonate well with a later and similarly expansive Gallup Poll, which took into account the views of employees from 44 organizations and 10,600 business units. Gallup found an almost identical top four reasons for employees voluntarily leaving. Between these two substantial surveys we have a fairly good grasp on why good employees leave voluntarily.

Of course, ordinarily staff retention is a key focus of the ‘at work’ HR Business partners and employee relations team. However, upon knowing these top reasons for employees leaving it becomes clear that there are real steps that recruiters can and should be taking to not only hire staff well, but to hire staff in a ‘sticky’ way so they stay for the long term. Thus, putting recruiters in a strong position to be able to say that they make a meaningful contribution not just to staff attraction, but staff retention. This also raises their profile within the organization they work in or serve.

Listed below are the top four reasons that employees leave and four corresponding actions that recruiters can take during the recruiting process to help counteract these issues.

1. Limited career/promotion opportunities. Recruiters should check that the candidate’s career development and advancement expectations are closely aligned with what the organization is able to offer. That is, can the business meet the career development needs of the candidate? If the answer is no, then this candidate may be a risky hiring prospect who may be likely to leave prematurely.

2. Supervisor lacked/respect support. Recruiters should develop job descriptions with detailed manager profiles so the employee can see their potential supervisor’s management style and team culture – and see if it will be a good fit. Ensure that the candidate’s preferred style of being managed matches up with the manager’s preferred style of management as a mismatch could lead to an early voluntary exit by the employee.

3. Compensation. Be concerned about candidates who are singularly focused on compensation. Why? Because, if, as a subsequent employee, they become dissatisfied with their pay, the fact that they don’t place much value in other areas of the brand offering like culture, training and career development opportunities, means these other perks will not serve as retention devices. This type of ‘money fixated applicant’ will be much more vulnerable to premature departure than a candidate who places value in many of areas of the brand offering.

4. Job duties boring/no challenge. Clearly, recruiters should be encouraging line managers to produce comprehensive job descriptions that accurately reflect the duties, responsibilities, scope of the role, flexibility, and key contacts in order to provide an all-round feel of the role. Also, make use of Realistic Job Previews (RJP) which is a process where you give the employee a view of both the positive and negative aspects of the job. Research shows that use of RJPs means the employee will be better able to cope with the stresses and strains of the job and be more satisfied.

I believe that the modern recruiter or talent acquisition professional can add greater value to the organizations that they serve or work for by placing an emphasis on hiring ‘sticky’ employees who are selected to not only be good, but to actually stay for the longer-term and enable the employer to fully realize the investment they made in the new recruit."

Thanks Kazim!

Personal Branding Quick Tip 6: Leverage Your Brand To Benefit Others

This, for me, is the cleverest part of our approach to Personal Branding.

I firmly believe that you develop a powerful personal brand for a much greater reason than just furthering your own personal agenda.

My approach to personal branding is very much about leverage: now that you understand the power and influence you have already, as well as the power you can generate in the future, how are you going to use that to best effect?

For some people, they may wish to use their credibility to positively impact their children, "What lessons have I learnt about myself that I can pass onto them?" See past tips if you're unsure.

For other people, it might be about how their influence could be used to further the objectives of their organisation, "How can I command greater respect in our industry, thereby furthering the reputation of my company?"

And for others it may be about how they could further a community cause. Think about how some celebrities use their brand power to raise awareness of charities close to their hearts.

When you truly take action to create outcomes far greater than those to fuel your own agenda, the positive repurcussions on your brand are then multiplied - it's a win/win situation!

- Rebecca

Personal Branding Quick Tip 5: Promote Your Value

 

 

 

Now that you have passion for what you do; love who you are; understand what value you offer the world; and accept it too... it's time to market and promote that value to the people who matter.

 

Why? You might be asking.

Isn't enough for me to know how I make an impact? Surely the key decision makers around me - my manager, the Board - know all this too?

 

The key to success in life I have found, is to assume nothing.

 

• Assume no-one knows anything about you.
• Assume no-one has noticed you staying at work late.
• Assume no-one has observed the insights you add in meetings.
• Assume no-one has a clue who you are...

...and you're off to a great start!

Promoting your value is a more complex process than I can explain in a 'quick tip' such as this. But the basics are these:

 

Who needs to know about you?

 

We're talking about people who have decision making capabilities: your manager; a senior partner; your clients; your Board

 

How can you get in front of them?

 

Think about coffee meetings, networking opportunities, and social opportunities at work.

 

What do they need to know?

 

Go back to earlier tips about understanding and accepting your value.

 

How can you tell them?

 

What stops most people from 'promoting their value' is a concern they will come across as arrogant.

You can promote yourself and do it authentically: it's a question of defining how you want to come across in a way that works for you.

 

- Rebecca

Personal Branding in Distress: Does Your Email Signature Destroy Your Brand?

I've just received an email from a man who shall remain nameless.

The email was vaguely interesting - I say 'vaguely' because there were numerous typos in the text which automatically gets my back up, makes me lose my train of thought and frankly leads me to judge the sender's professionalism.

And then I reached the email signature. Now, I'm all for quirky 'job' titles but this one for me went too far. It read:

Joe Bloggs
Head of Crazy Ideas; Wacky Guy; NFP Benefactor; Ladies' Man

Seriously?

This was an email from 'Joe Bloggs' asking me if I'd be interested in doing a joint venture with his company.

Err, no thanks!

It's funny - 'Joe Bloggs' might be a very interesting candidate for a JV but it's incredible how much this email signature irritated me.

For a start, it's not particularly professional.

Secondly, anyone who wishes to publicise their 'not for profit contributions' in such a lewd way, is clearly in it for all the wrong reasons (in my opinion).

And lastly... Ladies' Man? Come on!

The issue with your email signature is that it's short, sweet and 2-dimensional.

In other words you've got 5 seconds to make a good (or terrible, in this case) impression and it's an opportunity to bring you, a 3D individual, to life.

I think it's important to ensure your email signature is reflective of a brand other people would trust and wish to 'do business' with.

What do you think about email signatures? Are they easy to get wrong? Does it really matter? Am I being overly sensitive??

- Rebecca

Personal Branding Quick Tip 4: Accept Your Value

 

Last week, we explored what I mean by 'your value' - read that post here.

 

Understanding what you offer the world - through your innate talents, skills, passions and experience - is only the first step.

 

Most people, when faced with a list of all their positive qualities, reject it out of hand:

 

• "Surely everybody is like that"
• "Surely everyone can do that"
• "There's nothing special about me"

 

Well, here's a news flash for you: you are special and you do have an inordinate amount of value to offer.

 

The question is: do you believe in yourself enough?

 

It isn't possible to 'sell' your personal brand (and all the positive qualities and value it contains) to other people if you haven't sold yourself on the prospect first.

 

The confidence and trust other people have in you are formed from the confidence and trust you have in yourself.

 

So chances are, if your confidence in 'self' is only a 4/10, their confidence in you will probably be a 4/10 too.

  

If you have personal objections as to why 'you're not good enough' your absolute first step is to work through those objections with a trained coach.

 

You truly are the only thing that is holding you back.

 

- Rebecca 

Personal Branding Quick Tip 3: Understand your Value

What am I talking about, 'value'?

Each of us has an inordinate amount of talent to offer the world whether it's about solving problems; making others feel good; how you think; or bringing more money through the door.

You are sitting on a mountain of value and, to develop clarity of what your personal brand stands for, it's important to understand what exactly you can offer (and are already offering) the people around you.

The key to this is simple: be honest with yourself. Now is not the time to be bashful!

To keep it easy, focus on just one situation for now, such as work.

1. What do you offer your company in terms of your skills, innate talents and experience to date?

2. Which areas are you under-capitalising on?

3. What can you do that no-one else can?

Knowing why you are such an asset is critical!   Read Tip 2 here: Love Yourself or Give Up Now   Read Tip 1 here: Your Personal Brand Relies on Your Happiness

At a Career Crossroads? Define Your 'Meaningful Contribution'...

Fulfillment in life, and at work, often boils down to your contribution. And more particularly, your meaningful contribution.

Both terms 'contribution' and 'meaningful' will mean different things from person to person.

'Contribution' might be about...
... the time you offer to others
... the financial input you give
... the thinking you provide

And 'meaningful' might be about...
... who you help
... how you help them
... or why you choose to make that difference.

What I have discovered, working with hundreds of people now in the areas of career change and career fulfillment, is that 99% of the time, it boils down to needing to feel prouder of the inputs and outputs of your day.

Quite simply most of us are looking to make a more 'meaningful contribution' and feel as though we are adding greater value to the world around us. Perhaps the key to professional happiness is understanding how you would define this idea?

- Rebecca