What Really Drives People to Change Jobs

 

Despite an uncertain economy, employees are happy to abandon their roles if it means embracing a better work experience. According to a Gallop workplace survey over 96% of workers are looking for a new job.

In a skill-short landscape, where it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find talent for your team, knowing how to boost your chances of retaining staff is crucial.

The first step to fixing high levels of talent turnover is understanding why employees choose to leave their roles in the first place. Today, we’re going to look at the 11 most common reasons employees search for a new role – and what you can do about it.

1. Lack of Career Growth Opportunities

Every employee, no matter their industry, wants to see opportunities for growth in their career. This could mean everything from chances to move into higher-paying roles, to opportunities to take on more responsibilities at work. Unfortunately, only 48% of employees in 2023 said they felt a path for advancement was available with their current employer.

Creating clear and realistic succession plans to show employees there’s room to develop in your organization is the best way to help them visualize a future with your company.

2. Inadequate Compensation and Benefits

Today’s employees want and expect to be paid what they’re worth. Many employees know they can increase their income even higher than the rate of inflation too.

This means if you’re not paying team members what they’re worth, or enhancing the deal with the right benefits, such as remote or flexible working and paid time off, they’re likely to look elsewhere. Make sure you regularly assess the hiring landscape to determine a fair compensation package for your teams.

3. Unhealthy Work-Life Balance

Poor work-life balance has grown increasingly common since the pandemic. Remote and hybrid work is making it harder for employees to distinguish between their professional and personal worlds. However, people are also less willing than ever to deal with a consistently poor work-life balance for long.

To minimize turnover and prevent burnout, employers and business leaders need to encourage team members to care for themselves, take time off, and disconnect from the workplace whenever necessary.

4. Toxic Workplace Culture

A problematic workplace culture doesn’t only dissuade employees from joining your team, it can also prompt existing team members to search for new roles, or even disengage from their work. One study found that employees who feel excluded at work are at a 50% higher risk of turnover.

Focus on building an inclusive, respectful, and collaborative culture, where harassment, discrimination, and unfair treatment are effectively addressed and eliminated.

5. Limited Learning and Development

Most employees want to progress in their roles They also want to ensure they have chances to develop new skills and abilities. Approx. 94% of employees say they would stay with a business longer if it offered developmental opportunities.

Investing in learning and development programs for your employees is an excellent way to increase engagement and reduce turnover. What’s more, it ensures you can upskill staff members with the skills they need to thrive in the changing environment.

6. Poor Management and Leadership

Excellent leadership has long played a key role in employee retention. Employees often seek out new positions when they feel they aren’t getting the right managerial support. In fact, one Gallup study found 75% of workers voluntarily leave their roles do so because of a poor manager.

Learning which leadership and management styles work for your employees, and teaching your leaders how to implement them can help to minimize turnover.

7. Lack of Appreciation and Recognition

Every employee wants to feel appreciated. If you’re not recognizing your team members for the work they do regularly, then they’re likely to search for a new role. One report found that employees who only receive recognition a few times a year are 39% more likely to leave within the next twelve months.

Implement a comprehensive recognition strategy that encourages business leaders to share feedback and insights with team members on a regular basis. Even a simple “thank you” for a job well done message from a team leader can work wonders.

8. Disconnection from Company Values

In today’s world, employees are looking for more meaning from their jobs. They want to feel as though they’re having a positive impact on their industry, and they’re keen to work with companies that share their values. In fact, 87% of millennials in 2023 said they would leave a job to look for an employer that has the same values.

Ensuring you understand the values your employees hold, and making it easy for them to understand the mission and vision of your business is crucial to talent retention.

9. Limited Job Security

Studies show employees around the world are facing a job security crisis. Though the right talent remains crucial to the performance of any company, economic uncertainties are making job cuts more common. This leads to stress and burnout for staff.

While it might be impossible to guarantee long-term employment for your staff members, being transparent about layoffs, downsizing and continuity options is crucial.

10. Burnout

Burnout is still on the rise, with around 43% of the workforce now suffering with common symptoms. Not only does burnout harm productivity and performance in the workplace, but it also makes employees 3.4 times more likely to leave their role.

Business leaders need to pay attention to the signs and symptoms of burnout, and ensure they’re taking measures to overcome the problem whenever possible. This could mean offering therapy, guidance, and support for mental and physical wellbeing.

While it’s impossible to guarantee your staff will never leave your business in search of better perks or benefits, understanding the reasons employees leave is a good first step. When you know what prompts turnover in your company, you can take measures to avoid it.

 

As we are now living in a world that has been changed by the pandemic, your employee retention strategy must be better than ever.

A pre-pandemic Retention Report by the Work Institute (2019) found that “one in three workers would voluntarily leave their job by 2023”. And this has only increased due to significant shifts in the market due to Covid-19.

The effects of the pandemic are going to be felt in organizations for years to come, and so employee retention needs to be a key focus in order to ensure you are keeping your team engaged and satisfied in their roles.

Hiring for replacement team members is not something any company wants to be doing right now, and so an excellent employee retention strategy is essential.

The following 6 strategies will help.

1. Discover Who You’re Overlooking

To ensure you are providing excellent leadership for your entire team and making them feel valued, first, it is essential that you find out if you are overlooking anyone in your team.

Teams will naturally include individuals with a variety of skills, experience and personality types.

But in most teams, there will also be team members who shine brighter than others – extroverts tend to get noticed more than introverts, some team members are more likely to speak up if they have a problem whereas others will try to work through challenges on their own.

As a leader, it is essential that everyone is getting the right amount of support that they need and that you are not overlooking anyone.

Leaders will naturally look to middle managers and other higher-profile employees, but to be a great leader, you must ensure the highest level of employee retention – remember that each and every team member must feel valued and supported.

2. Create Unlimited Opportunities for Growth

According to this LinkedIn Workforce Learning Report, 93% of employees would stay longer with their employer if they invested more in developing their careers.

Many employers will get to the point where they have a great team in place and think that their job is ‘done’.

But continual training and development is a key part of every employee retention strategy, and we find that talented candidates who look for new roles often cite a desire to develop themselves and their career further as a reason for leaving.

No-one wants to be stuck in a role where they feel as though progression is an unlikely possibility. So, invest in robust training and development for your team – it can be anything from personal development training to allowing them time to learn new skills.

3. Demonstrate Excellent Values and Ethics

The most desirable employees are looking for employers with meaningful values and ethics. And this has been accelerated by the pandemic. We are all thinking much more about what is really important to us, and working for a company they believe in is high on every employee’s list of priorities.

Employees are more empowered than ever, with social media and online review culture creating an environment where the need to be honest and transparent is more crucial than ever. How active is your company at demonstrating your values and ethics? Do you champion diversity and inclusion? Are you financially transparent?

Fail to demonstrate excellent values, and you risk losing your employees to a more ethical company.

4. Give Employees a Purpose

It is not enough to give employees a fair remuneration package – employees are increasingly looking for a greater sense of purpose in their work.

The best way to find out if your employees feel a sense of meaning and purpose in their work is to talk to them. Ask them what is important to them in their roles and make any alterations you can to help them feel a greater sense of purpose. This could involve introducing tools to make their jobs easier, and thus, more valued, or working together to identify stretch assignments or projects they can work on to continue growing in their career.

Also, create a mission statement which helps employees to understand how their work positively impacts the world.

5. Enhance Your Employer Brand

Your employer brand is the thread that links employees to the organization – all employees want to work for a company which they feel aligned to.

Look closely at what your competitors are doing – if you slip in terms of promoting and maintaining an excellent employer brand, this gives employees the opportunity to look elsewhere and to be tempted to leave to work for a brand with a better reputation and culture.

Your digital footprint is key in creating a strong employer brand which your employees will feel proud to be a part of. Think about what you post and how often. Employees like to see that their employer is actively engaged in current topics, is invested in the wellbeing of the team and is a transparent and communicative employer.

Get your employees involved in team strengthening events, use your social media to champion your current employees – celebrate birthdays, life events and little wins within the organization.

And finally, let’s look at how a great recruitment strategy is always essential when it comes to employee retention.

6. Get Your Recruitment Strategy Right

Employee retention all starts with your recruitment process. When you start your employees off on the right foot with an excellent recruitment and onboarding process, this sets the tone for a mutually beneficial employer-employee relationship.

Studies reveal that the better the onboarding process, the lower the turnover.

A shocking 20% of employee turnover happens within the first 45 days, and this is mostly due to a poor onboarding process.

Onboarding is part of the recruitment process, and yet many employers believe that recruitment stops the moment the candidate accepts the job offer. Invest in your recruitment and onboarding process, and you will start to see a higher rate of employee retention.

Finally

A certain amount of staff turnover is unavoidable. But follow the steps in this guide to improve unnecessary employee turnover in your organization.

It’s never easy to lose a great employee, but when you work with a specialized recruiter, they can help you create the right recruitment and onboarding process to ensure your retention rates remain high, increasing employee engagement and lowering your overall costs of recruitment.

To find out how we can help you find your next talented team member, get in touch with us at 919-813-2454 or email us at Info@TheBlackDiamondAgency.com.