What makes people quit their jobs

Attrition can be expensive, especially with knowledge workers. We focus on industries such as finance, technology, pharma, and biotech, which have high-value contributors. A lot of company knowledge walks out the door when an employee leaves. You can hire somebody with the same skill set, but it takes months for that person to get up to speed.

And when managers leave, they may take a whole team with them. Some firms, such as Credit Suisse, take this tack with employees identified as being at risk of leaving: Internal recruiters cold-call the employees to alert them to openings inside the company. You have 1 free article s left this month. You are reading your last free article for this month. Subscribe for unlimited access. Create an account to read 2 more. Employee retention. Why People Quit Their Jobs. Tech surveillance and social media monitoring point to new triggers.

Paul Garland. A version of this article appeared in the September issue pp. Companies that have taken a strategic approach to employee recognition have seen improvements in this area. One of the reasons burnout is a tricky issue to tackle is that the contributing factors are varied, with responsibility often sitting across different departmental desks. Whilst the three primary causes were identified as unfair compensation, unreasonable workload and too much overtime, other factors such as poor management, lack of clear alignment between work and corporate goals, and a negative workplace culture also contributed.

This led to the development of a dedicated remote work program, offering employees the choice to work from home or in the office, based on an assessment of their personality, role, and team. Read more: 10 companies leading the way on engaging remote employees. The remote-working conversation typically aligns with a desire to achieve a greater work-life balance or, as Arianna Huffington terms it , work-life integration, which benefits employees by helping to alleviate stress, afford more time to spend with family and ultimately support greater wellbeing and mental health.

The impact that poor mental health has on employee performance and the economy has been understood for some time. With three in five employees experiencing work-related mental health issues at some time in their career, it should be no surprise that this is a key reason why many workers quit.

Poor mental health is an issue that transcends age and gender. A survey of 2, employees by CV-Library found that six in 10 men want to quit their jobs because of their mental health, with a culture of working long hours pinpointed as the primary contributing factor. Read our nine research-backed ideas on better supporting mental health at work for WorldMentalHealthDay here.

Research tells us that the business adage of employees working for a boss, not a company, are probably true — especially when it comes to handing in a resignation letter. Just over half of Australians feel they get recognized enough at work — and Support and train them to ensure they move up with the right skills too.

This point follows on from the last — a lack of training leads to stagnation. If you cut your training budgets, you will see a company that is less productive and less efficient. Always make sure you check in with your workers, to help them manage their goals and keep their to-do lists to a minimum.

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