Leigh Branham: Why Do Employees Resign?

• Give candidates an accurate insight into how the organization operates; its culture and values; the requirements of the role and responsibilities of the job. In return, candidates should be encouraged to voice their expectations and needs openly, to minimize the development of inconsistencies.
• Provide opportunities for candidates to interact with their potential colleagues and manager(s), to get a flavor of working for the organization. Existing team members could be involved in the interview and selection process, or candidates could shadow them at work.
• Provide new employees with information on what to expect from the employment relationship. For example, how their performance will be managed and the organization’s approach to learning and development.
• Survey new recruits to learn how to reduce post-recruitment surprises and improve recruitment and induction processes.

2. A Mismatch Between the Job and The Person.

Many employees feel frustrated that they are unable to use their skills, and that their best talents are ignored. They may feel restricted by an unchallenging job or be faced with tasks that overstretch them due to a lack of relevant skills or training.

What to Do:

• Before filling each vacancy evaluate the role to identify the competencies required to perform it effectively.
• Ensure a good fit between a candidate’s skills and the role requirements by conducting a rigorous, competency based selection process. This should focus on assessment of the skills, knowledge and experience needed to perform the job well.
• Don’t rely on traditional methods of recruitment. Open up the pool for recruitment and consider new sources of talent to increase the likelihood of finding a good fit. Alternative sources of talent include employing older workers, sourcing talent from abroad or developing your own internal talent pool.
• Improve engagement by identifying and nurturing talent. This can be achieved by coaching employees to realize their strengths and identify where they can add value.
• Provide increased autonomy and task delegation to create new challenges and job enrichment.

3. Too little Coaching and Feedback.

Improving the quality of coaching and feedback can have a positive impact on engagement and retention rates. Research shows that 80% of employees who are coached feel a strong sense of organizational commitment, compared to just 46% of employees who were not coached.[2]

What to Do:

• Aim to create a culture of continuous improvement by providing structured coaching and regular feedback to all employees, particularly new employees.
• Ensure that managers are held accountable for coaching and giving feedback to their staff. Train managers to deliver effective performance reviews and feedback.
• Be prepared to deal with persistent poor performance where feedback and coaching efforts fail. Consider moving the individual to a role which better suits their skills or terminating employment.

4. Too Few Growth and Advancement Opportunities.

Insufficient training, lack of promotion opportunities, ignoring internal talent in favor of recruiting externally, and favoritism are some of the ways in which employers encourage employees to look for more rewarding opportunities elsewhere.

What to Do:

• Help employees to assess their talents by providing self-assessment tools and training in career self-management.
• Help managers to understand their primary responsibility for employee development by providing training in how to coach team members in identifying their strengths and career goals.
• Do not rely on rigid, traditional career development paths. Develop an awareness of differing career paths, and allow employees choice in how to develop their careers, e.g. by shadowing someone in a different area of the organization.
• Improve career advancement opportunities by recruiting internally. This can be achieved by developing a fair and efficient system of internal job-posting and building a skills orientated database of those looking for an internal move or secondment opportunity.
• Demonstrate a strong commitment to employee training and development to help improve productivity and retention rates by encouraging managers to regularly review and evaluate development needs.

5. Feeling Devalued and Unrecognized.

Lack of appreciation or recognition, being paid less than the market rate or being passed over for promotion are some of the ways employees can be made to feel devalued by their employer.

What to Do:

• Create a culture of informal recognition by encouraging managers to show appreciation to their staff in different ways e.g. by giving verbal or written thanks, or by organizing team activities or social events.
• Use creative flexible benefits which can be tailored to suit employee preferences, with a mixture of financial and non-financial options. Ask employees to identify the rewards that mean the most to them, and offer these accordingly.
• Ask for input on how to improve the organization, perhaps by using an employee suggestion scheme. Recognize input by giving rewards for ideas that are implemented.
• Keep employees informed about organizational changes and developments in order to build a sense of ownership and commitment. Communicate key information such as organizational objectives and the financial position, or consider giving employees a financial stake in the business with company shares or share options.

6. Stress From Overwork and Work-Life Imbalance.

Unfortunately, work-related stress is a fact of life for many employees. Sources of stress include overwork, conflict, and poor work-life balance. These issues affect productivity and morale, and can result in employees seeking work elsewhere.

What to Do:

• Develop a culture of ‘giving before getting’. Organizations who genuinely care for their employees through the provision of comprehensive work-life, health and other benefits garner a stronger sense of commitment than those who offer the bare minimum.
• Build social connectedness between employees to help develop positive relationships and increase commitment to the organization. This can be achieved by bringing together different teams, organizing group activities and creating employee interest groups.
• Encourage fun in the workplace as a means of combating stress.
• Tackle the root causes of stress e.g. by addressing issues with difficult managers, hiring more staff to cope with increased workloads or improving work-life balance options.

7. Loss of Trust and Confidence in Senior Leaders.

Disappointment in senior leaders can stem from a lack of trust in their ability to lead the organization effectively. Leaders can often appear unapproachable to employees and isolated from the rest of the organization. Other leaders may be greedy and show little concern or appreciation for employees. Employees can also lose confidence in their leaders as a result of poor decision-making or ineffective management of change.

What to Do:

• Leaders can inspire confidence by having a clear, achievable vision for the future and a well communicated strategy for how the organization will achieve its aims.
• Leaders can instill trust in their employees by showing integrity in their actions and ‘doing what they say’.

Conclusion

By following Branham’s advice, organizations can mitigate against the key causes of employee disengagement and ultimately reduce the propensity for employees to take their talent elsewhere. His suggestions provide a clear roadmap for the development of a proactive and strategic approach to improving retention. Employees and the organizational knowledge they possess are a key source of competitive advantage, so an understanding of the seven root causes of disengagement is critical to tackling unwanted turnover.