Drivers Behind Joining, Staying and Leaving

Organization and job issues, such as challenging work, company reputation, remuneration, and development/career opportunities are often clearly understood before an individual takes up their position. This is because they are actively marketed in adverts and job descriptions, and are discussed and agreed in advance. However, before starting a new job, employees generally tend to know little about their prospective manager.

What Motivates People to Stay?

Money Talks?

If you ask people why they work, many will say it’s for the money. However, if probed further, and asked to rank money alongside other factors, studies repeatedly reveal that, in fact they ‘list money behind values such as satisfaction, close working relationships, autonomy, work–life balance, and learning’.[1]

In his article, ‘Meaningful Work’, Chalofsky asserts that, ‘the truly great places to work aren’t great because of their perks and benefits, but because of their organizational cultures and policies that promote meaningful work and a nurturing, supportive workplace’. He refers to a number of studies, including findings from a future search conference sponsored by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) in 2001, that point to people wanting:

• more control over their work
• a better work–life balance
• opportunities for more personal growth
• increased meaning in their work

Many employers are responding to this shift in employee needs by striving to strike a balance between work life and personal life, creating humane workplaces and developing a sense of social responsibility.

In his book, High Performers: How the Best Companies Find and Keep Them, Martel cites significant research, which asserts that although employees want to be adequately compensated, they are more concerned with their overall wellbeing, the freedom to express themselves, the meaningfulness of their work and the quality of their lives in general. He refers to data from the World’s Values Survey, which measured values and beliefs over the past three decades in 60 societies. The survey indicates that employees are moving from a materialist to a post-materialist set of values.

‘Post-materialists want the work to be meaningful and challenging, giving them a chance to exercise self-expression, feel a sense of accomplishment, and make a difference… they seek a supportive work environment that will enable them to balance work with family and other outside interests.’[2]

‘This shift in the things people care most about has vast implications for the way organizations reward and recognize people… many of the old-school motivators that once worked are likely to fail.’[3]

Talented Employees Need Great Managers

Findings from recent research consistently point towards leadership as the key to retaining talent.[4] The most significant factor for employee turnover was found to be the way employees were treated by their manager. After all, managers are the ones that work closely with and have a direct effect upon their employees. Buckingham and Coffman examined findings from two major research studies by The Gallup Organization undertaken over a 25-year period. They surveyed "over a million employees from a broad range of companies, industries and countries". They concluded that:

"talented employees need great managers. The talented employee may join a company because of its charismatic leaders, its generous benefits, and world-class training programs, but how long that employee stays and how productive he is while he is there is determined by his relationship with his immediate supervisor."[5]

In order of importance, new employees want a manager who exhibits leadership that:[6]

• creates a sense of trust with team members
• practices two-way communication by sharing and asking for information
• believes in the importance of employee retention and has the expertise to retain team members
• recognizes and takes into account the needs and views of each team member

Managers, therefore, need to create a climate and culture that makes staying worthwhile. Pfeffer maintains, ‘Perhaps most importantly, putting people first entails ensuring that those in leadership positions have people-oriented values and manage in ways consistent with building high-performance work environments.’[7]

Leaders need to pay close attention to how people feel about their work and take proactive steps to keep talent from walking out the door. According to Davison, “Managers who are more understanding create a better place to work, which is the key to retention.” He asserts that existing management training programs, despite addressing soft skills, are not developing compassionate managers.

Retention Drivers

In a survey of 8,000 people in 35 industries, respondents highlighted the following drivers for retention:[8]

Drivers behind choosing to stay:

• exciting work and challenges
• career growth, learning and development
• fair pay and benefits
• relationships and working with great people
• supportive management, a great boss
• pride in the organization, its mission and its product
• great work environment or culture
• being recognized, valued and respected
• meaningful work, making a difference
• autonomy

What Causes People to Leave?

Better pay and benefits are often cited as reasons for leaving. Indeed, the findings from a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) UK labor turnover survey rank these as two of the top six reasons:

• a move to a higher-paying job, including promotion (62%)
• a change of career (38%)
• level of pay (35%)
• level of working hours
• family reasons
• perception of job insecurity

However, much of the recent research indicates a disconnection between what employees report as being reasons and what is actually going on. Many researchers, such as Barbara Davison, believe higher pay to be a smokescreen for the real reason – ineffective leaders. ‘Poor management still tops the list as the number one reason for leaving a job.’[9]

One of the most consistent conclusions from the various studies is summed up particularly well by Buckingham and Coffman:

"People join companies, but leave managers."

Push Factors

Psychological research has shown that the ‘psychological contract’ between employees and employers continues to play a major role. [10] The ‘psychological contract’ is what the employee or employer believes to be the set of unspoken promises, agreements or obligations existing between them. Examples might include: a fair balance of ‘give and take’, or; the quality of the relationship with the manager; or, perhaps, a sense of fairness around decisions to develop team members. When one or more push factors intervene and weaken employees’ attachment, they begin to consider changing jobs.

Pull Factors

In general terms, the pull factors come into play after the individual has decided to begin to look elsewhere. At this point, their search takes account of factors such as higher pay, better career prospects and ability to work flexibly.

Summary

An understanding of the factors that attract the best employees and influence their decision to leave or stay will help you to address the retention issues core to your talent management strategy. Martel sums up the reasons driving unwanted turnover:

• work environment is not encouraging
• supervisors are not attentive
• compensation practices are inappropriate or not fairly adhered to
• training is not received

At the core of these reasons is the feeling that companies are indifferent to employees; that they do not care enough to commit to their development or the work they do. Organizations that do care, that engage their employees and invest in them, that are committed to them and their work, will still lose some, but they will retain many more, and these will be their high performers. Martel concludes:

"Commitment earns commitment."
To find and keep high performers, companies need to convey to both candidates and current employees the meaningfulness of the work they do and the value of the contribution they make.