often the person best qualified to help them identify and develop new skills since they’re the ones who are most familiar with the employee’s work, preferences, and performance on a daily basis. Your company will likely need to learn how to help employees develop career plans, and then train managers to work on these plans with their direct reports.

If two jobs and companies are fairly similar, and one employer offers career advancement help while the other does not, which employer do you think is more likely to attract and retain qualified employees?

Reason #3: A poor match between the employee and the job or the employee and the company.<

One of the questions we’re frequently asked by employers of all types, including those in different countries, is “Why do employees leave?”

Here are 10 of the most common reasons employees leave; we haven’t ranked them in their order of importance with the exception of the first one, which is usually the largest single reason employees leave.

10 Common Reasons Employees Leave Employers

1. Poor relationship between the employee and their immediate boss.
2. Lack of a career advancement plan.
3. A poor match between the employee and the job or the employee and the company.
4. Compensation not competitive.
5. No direct link between strong performance and increased rewards.
6. A need for stimulating, meaningful work.
7. Lack of appreciation, recognition, and rewards.
8. Insufficient coaching and feedback.
9. Quality of the people the employee works with.
10. Insufficient alignment of how the employee’s work achieves

organizational objectives, and how the employee can be a greater

success.

Reason #1: Poor relationship between the employee and their immediate boss.

There’s a clich? that says, “People leave managers, not companies.”

Their boss may frequently criticize them while withholding praise and appreciation for quality work; demean them in front of others; pile on more work as a reward for being productive; refuse reasonable requests for time off or other matters; and act disagreeably. What can you do?

a. Make employee retention part of their job descriptions and base at least 25% of bonuses on employee retention.

b. Provide training in how to give corrective feedback-and in how to praise and recognize employees.

c. Help them understand the high cost of employee turnover and how it affects their performance and department.

d. Train them to conduct “stay interviews” with their employees so they find out why they continue to work there, what would entice them to leave, what they like most about their jobs, and what other skills they want to learn.

e. Consider coaching for supervisors and managers who need it; our experience is that most can make improvements.

Reason #2: Lack of a career advancement plan.

Many employers now have many Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1980) and Generation Y (born between 1981 and 1994) employees in their workforce.

Both of these generations are much more determined to add skills, training, and expertise to better develop their careers and stay more marketable and promotable.

Their supervisor or manager is often the person best qualified to help them identify and develop new skills since they’re the ones who are most familiar with the employee’s work, preferences, and performance on a daily basis. Your company will likely need to learn how to help employees develop career plans, and then train managers to work on these plans with their direct reports.

If two jobs and companies are fairly similar, and one employer offers career advancement help while the other does not, which employer do you think is more likely to attract and retain qualified employees?

Reason #3: A poor match between the employee and the job or the employee and the company.<

irect link between strong performance and increased rewards.
6. A need for stimulating, meaningful work.
7. Lack of appreciation, recognition, and rewards.
8. Insufficient coaching and feedback.
9. Quality of the people the employee works with.
10. Insufficient alignment of how the employee’s work achieves

organizational objectives, and how the employee can be a greater

success.

Reason #1: Poor relationship between the employee and their immediate boss.

There’s a clich? that says, “People leave managers, not companies.”

Their boss may frequently criticize them while withholding praise and appreciation for quality work; demean them in front of others; pile on more work as a reward for being productive; refuse reasonable requests for time off or other matters; and act disagreeably. What can you do?

a. Make employee retention part of their job descriptions and base at least 25% of bonuses on employee retention.

b. Provide training in how to give corrective feedback-and in how to praise and recognize employees.

c. Help them understand the high cost of employee turnover and how it affects their performance and department.

d. Train them to conduct “stay interviews” with their employees so they find out why they continue to work there, what would entice them to leave, what they like most about their jobs, and what other skills they want to learn.

e. Consider coaching for supervisors and managers who need it; our experience is that most can make improvements.

Reason #2: Lack of a career advancement plan.

Many employers now have many Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1980) and Generation Y (born between 1981 and 1994) employees in their workforce.

Both of these generations are much more determined to add skills, training, and expertise to better develop their careers and stay more marketable and promotable.

Their supervisor or manager is often the person best qualified to help them identify and develop new skills since they’re the ones who are most familiar with the employee’s work, preferences, and performance on a daily basis. Your company will likely need to learn how to help employees develop career plans, and then train managers to work on these plans with their direct reports.

If two jobs and companies are fairly similar, and one employer offers career advancement help while the other does not, which employer do you think is more likely to attract and retain qualified employees?

Reason #3: A poor match between the employee and the job or the employee and the company.<

ciation for quality work; demean them in front of others; pile on more work as a reward for being productive; refuse reasonable requests for time off or other matters; and act disagreeably. What can you do?

a. Make employee retention part of their job descriptions and base at least 25% of bonuses on employee retention.

b. Provide training in how to give corrective feedback-and in how to praise and recognize employees.

c. Help them understand the high cost of employee turnover and how it affects their performance and department.

d. Train them to conduct “stay interviews” with their employees so they find out why they continue to work there, what would entice them to leave, what they like most about their jobs, and what other skills they want to learn.

e. Consider coaching for supervisors and managers who need it; our experience is that most can make improvements.

Reason #2: Lack of a career advancement plan.

Many employers now have many Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1980) and Generation Y (born between 1981 and 1994) employees in their workforce.

Both of these generations are much more determined to add skills, training, and expertise to better develop their careers and stay more marketable and promotable.

Their supervisor or manager is often the person best qualified to help them identify and develop new skills since they’re the ones who are most familiar with the employee’s work, preferences, and performance on a daily basis. Your company will likely need to learn how to help employees develop career plans, and then train managers to work on these plans with their direct reports.

If two jobs and companies are fairly similar, and one employer offers career advancement help while the other does not, which employer do you think is more likely to attract and retain qualified employees?

Reason #3: A poor match between the employee and the job or the employee and the company.<

work there, what would entice them to leave, what they like most about their jobs, and what other skills they want to learn.

e. Consider coaching for supervisors and managers who need it; our experience is that most can make improvements.

Reason #2: Lack of a career advancement plan.

Many employers now have many Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1980) and Generation Y (born between 1981 and 1994) employees in their workforce.

Both of these generations are much more determined to add skills, training, and expertise to better develop their careers and stay more marketable and promotable.

Their supervisor or manager is often the person best qualified to help them identify and develop new skills since they’re the ones who are most familiar with the employee’s work, preferences, and performance on a daily basis. Your company will likely need to learn how to help employees develop career plans, and then train managers to work on these plans with their direct reports.

If two jobs and companies are fairly similar, and one employer offers career advancement help while the other does not, which employer do you think is more likely to attract and retain qualified employees?

Reason #3: A poor match between the employee and the job or the employee and the company.<

often the person best qualified to help them identify and develop new skills since they’re the ones who are most familiar with the employee’s work, preferences, and performance on a daily basis. Your company will likely need to learn how to help employees develop career plans, and then train managers to work on these plans with their direct reports.

If two jobs and companies are fairly similar, and one employer offers career advancement help while the other does not, which employer do you think is more likely to attract and retain qualified employees?

Reason #3: A poor match between the employee and the job or the employee and the company.

Many new hires start with a fair amount of enthusiasm when they begin a new job with a new employer. However, when the new hire, the job, or the employer haven’t been well-matched, many will leave while the employer incurs expensive replacement costs.

How can you increase the number of successful new hire “fits?”

a. Use exit interviews, preferably by a third party who can promise confidentiality, to find out why they left.

b. Be certain job descriptions are accurate and up-to-date, and identify the skills and competencies the job requires, not just the tasks. Be able to state what is required to be successful in the job.

c. When you have qualified candidates, pay them to shadow a capable employee in the same job for one day, and then get feedback from both of them.

d. Ask the prospective employee to identify the needs and expectations they have of the job and the company. Spell out the needs and expectations the company has of them, and then compare what both of you have written. How close are you?

e. Continue to review the mutual needs and expectations you have of each other at least once a month during their first three months.

Our experience has shown that measures like these tend to increase employee loyalty, effort, and retention.

Reason #4: Compensation not competitive.

Are your wages, salaries and benefits competitive with what other employers pay? If they’re not, you can expect to lose people unless there are other compelling reasons for them to stay for slightly lower wages. Conduct a comparison of your wages and benefits every two to three years.

In addition, are you only paying minimum wage? If you are, then you’re susceptible to losing people to other employers for increases as low as 5% in their hourly wages!

Reason #5: No direct link between strong performance and increased rewards.

Do your employees know what they can do to improve their performance and productivity and to earn more as a result?

If they don’t, they’re likely to reach a plateau which consists of doing work that’s good enough to keep the job, but without expending extra effort.

Developing a work-compensation link isn’t easy, but companies have been doing it in one form or another for a long time. For example, salespeople who receive a base salary and commissions or bonuses for higher sales.

Or, gain-sharing plans where employees receive a percentage of production gains over a certain level.

The logistics of developing such a program are too lengthy to be covered here, but you can research or get outside consulting he