Employees are the greatest asset for an organisation. It is only as strong and productive as its workforce. Therefore, if a large number of employees start leaving their jobs, organisations should go on high alert. It is a sign that something is going horribly wrong.
High employee turnover not only affects the productivity of the organisations but also eats up a lot of their financial resources. The cost involved in advertising, transportation, scheduling interviews, etc can go really high if organisations have to incur them multiple times in short intervals of time. In addition to this, high employee turnover also adversely affects the morale of your existing employees. Therefore, it is very important for hiring managers to take immediate steps for lowering the rate of employee turnover. However, these steps will be effective only if they are taken in the right direction. This means that before devising any plan or strategy, managers should focus on understanding the reasons behind the departure of so many employees.
While a higher salary being offered by a competitor might be your first thought, it is not always true. There are many other reasons for an employee to quit his job. A few common ones are:
- Â Â Inadequate growth opportunities
A skilled and career-oriented employee is always looking for growth opportunities. As an employer, it is your responsibility to upskill your employees and keep them up to date with the technological changes taking place in your industry. Moreover, with customizable features and unique pricing models, LMSs and other web-based tools have made training employees so easy and affordable. For example, the cornerstone LMS pricing structure charges you a fee only for the employees that actually use the LMS, instead of the entire workforce.
However, if you still fail to provide them with relevant training and learning opportunities, they will no longer be willing to stay associated with you and stunt their growth.
- Â Â Not feeling valued
It’s natural for people to wish to be recognised and appreciated for their efforts. Appreciating employees is not only a pleasant thing to do but also an effective method to express your gratitude for their efforts and triumphs. It motivates them to keep working hard and perform better than the rest. However, its absence can cause the exact opposite effect. This means that your employees can start feeling undervalued if the management refuses to acknowledge their contributions. Having such negative feelings for a prolonged period is bound to make your employees leave.
- Â Â Disturbed work-life balance
One of the most common reasons for professionals to quit their jobs is a disturbed work-life balance. Everybody wants to leave the office worries in their cubicles and go home on time to relax with their families. So, if you are constantly asking your employees to work for long hours or stay in the office till late, you are interfering with their personal lives. In such a scenario, after a certain point, they will refuse to work on these terms and quit.
- Â Â Job not meeting the expectations
Sometimes, employees also quit if their jobs fail to meet the expectations that they had before joining. This can happen if organisations provide misleading information to the candidates at the time of hiring. However, it is very rare.
Mostly, individuals observe this mismatch during the natural course of their employment and switch over to a more suitable job.
- Â Â Better Pay
Money may not be the only reason for employees to quit but it surely is a strong one. Everyone has certain financial obligations to fulfil. So, if an individual can find a job that pays him 20-25% more than his existing employer, he is most likely to make the switch.
Conclusion
When good employees depart, productivity declines, morale plummets, and financial resources take a hit. Therefore, it is only logical to focus on retaining employees instead of hiring new employees. Managers should develop effective employee retention strategies and the first step in doing so is understanding why the iteration rate is so high. While the reasons mentioned above are fairly common, organisations should conduct exit interviews to better understand the situation.
