Why Employees Quit – And How To Build More Loyal Employees
A high employee turnover isn’t good for business. On top of the cost and hassle of constantly recruiting new staff, a high employee turnover can result in a weaker team and a general lack of trust among employees and customers.
Employees tend to quit jobs for various reasons. It’s worth trying to understand these reasons so that you can try to counter them. This could allow you to build more long-term employees. Below are just some of the main reasons that employees quit.
Low pay
If employees feel that they could be earning more money elsewhere doing the same job, they’re likely to leave and go to another company. For this reason, you need to be careful about the wages you offer.
It could be worth doing some research to find out what other companies are paying their employees. You may be able to find this out by looking at job ads provided by other companies and by reading reports of average wages in your industry.
Unreasonable workload
Piling too much work onto employees can also pressure them to leave. Overworking employees typically leads to chronic stress, poor work performance and poor job satisfaction,
It’s important to read the signs that you may be overworking your employees so that you can reduce the burden: negative language, frequent mistakes and frequent requests for sick leave are all common signs. Try to put in place measures that make work easier for your employees where possible such as improving tools or automating tasks. In many cases, an unreasonable workload can be caused by a high employee turnover – when employees leave, other employees have to then take on their work. This can make it a bit of a catch-22 situation – reducing the entire company workload temporarily could be necessary so that employees can catch up and get some relief.
Lack of training and onboarding
Do new employees keep quitting after only a few weeks? It could be due to a poor training and onboarding process. Throwing employees into a role without telling them what to do and without making them feel welcome will likely scare them off.
A structured training program and clear onboarding process will help new employees to settle in and prevent them from quitting straight away. Make sure that you or another employee can dedicate time to training this employee. E-learning tools can be useful too, although they shouldn’t be a substitute for in-person training.
Lack of progression
You may find that you lose your most long-standing employees if you do not offer any opportunity for progression within the company. Employees should be able to work towards management roles or should at least be given the opportunity of more pay or greater privileges after working at the company for a while – especially if they’ve been producing great results.
Think about how you can nurture your most loyal employees. It could be worth talking to them one-on-one about what their goals are so that you can try to help them meet them.
Lack of company benefits
Company benefits include things like health insurance, paid time off, retirement plans, discounts to local services or a company car. These benefits can encourage employees to stay loyal by improving their quality of life outside of work.
Think about the employee benefit package that you currently offer employees and whether this could be improved. A greater range of benefits could make employees think twice before leaving.
Lack of flexibility
A lot of companies are now letting employees work more flexibly – this could include the option of working from home, as well as being able to pick and choose hours. This added flexibility can allow employees to more easily fit work around their personal lives.
Not all jobs can be worked so flexibility. However, if there’s no reason for employees to be working set times in a set location, it could be worth introducing some flexibility – this could encourage certain employees (particularly those with kids, pets or those who live far away) to be more loyal.
Poor relationship with management
A lot of employees leave a job because they do not get along with their manager. There are so many things that can cause a relationship between employees and management to break down – perhaps employees feel that they are being constantly criticized, or that you are not giving them trust and support.
To help warm your employees to you, it’s important that you talk to your employees on a human level. Ask about their personal life, ask them about their concerns at work and help them to realize their goals. Ideally, a good boss should come across approachable. Make sure that any assistant managers also possess these qualities.
Poor relationship with colleagues
Employees may also leave if they do not get on with colleagues. It’s important to look out for problems such as workplace bullying, formation of cliques or conflicts due to personal reasons – these may all cause employees to leave.
Invest in team-building activities such as social get-togethers or simply meetings where employees are all encouraged to brainstorm ideas. Make sure to also talk to your employees individually in private and ask them if they have any conflicts with any other employees – some employees may open up and you may be able to diffuse any problems before an employee is forced to quit.
Lack of praise and rewards
Praise and rewards can help employees to feel appreciated. If employees feel their work is not being appreciated, they may become demoralized and will likely leave.
Make sure that you are regularly complimenting and thanking employees for their achievements and efforts. When an employee goes above and beyond to achieve results, make sure that you’re also acknowledging this and consider offering a greater reward such as a gift or bonus.
Lack of organization
Employees may also leave if there is a lack of organization within the company. Problems like poor communication, lack of clear roles and inability to fix problems could result in a chaotic work environment that leaves employees frustrated.
If you’ve noticed that mistakes keep getting made or that there is confusion within the company over certain aspects, it could be worth trying to solve this. By getting organized, you can encourage employees to trust you and the company.
The employee isn’t right for the company
Sometimes an employee may quit because they do not fit in – they may be unable to hack it or may not agree with company ethics or the company culture.
This is often due to poor hiring decisions. Make sure that you’re not hiring someone who you have a bad feeling about – do you research to find out exactly what their experience is and what drives them so that you’re not hiring someone who is ill-suited.