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The Main Reason Employees Leave Companies

Employee turnover is a persistent issue in some organisations, leaving top management and HR recruiters with a serious question: why are their employees leaving, and what can be done to make them stay?

Companies are spending money to spice up the office and outdo other companies in terms of salary bonuses and other benefits. Sadly, a new Google-inspired office setup or cafeteria design, games rooms, casual Friday drinks and teambuilding fun won’t help.

While employers are investing in office perks and cool workplace features to boost employee retention and engagement, they ignore a more important fact. A high percentage of employee turnover is a symptom of a deeper problem.

“Employees are less engaged today than back in the sixties when a steady job was the key to engagement,” writes Roberta Chinsky Matuson in her opinion piece Let’s Not Kid Ourselves: The Real Reason for Employee Turnover,’ an article viewed by more than a quarter of million LinkedIn fans in just two days!

So what do employees want, and why the low engagement and the desire to leave a job?

Here is the real reason employees decide to leave: bad leadership. This is the root cause of employee turnover. Understanding the way management and leadership impacts the employees’ everyday work is the first step to address this nagging problem.

Studies consistently show that employees don’t leave companies. They leave their bosses.

If employee engagement is low, If your business is losing employees faster than it can hire recruits, consider leadership the most probable cause. It’s time to make a long overdue change in management instead of buying your employee’s affection.

As recruiters with a wealth of experience, we recommend starting with the basics.

  • Treat all people with respect and dignity. Salary raises, office perks and teambuilding exercises will not retain employees if management keeps treating them poorly.
  • Micromanaging and nit-picking are demoralising. Give employees leeway to make their contributions and voices heard.
  • Work-life balance is important. Offer employees flexibility with breaks, sick leave, and family leave.
  • Focus on the work positives to get more productivity and better results, and celebrate achievements with the team
  • Ensure each employee knows that they are are a valued member of the team, and their contribution is important to the company

Your business can immediately implement the above to reduce the cost of employee turnover and make a lasting difference in its leadership.

Professional Sourcing is a top-tier South African-based recruitment agency operating internationally, IPM accredited, LEVEL 2 BEE RATED and 51% Black Owned.

Our agency specialises in professional placements (senior and specialist talent) and exclusive skills recruitment to a wide range of industries, including JSE’s top 100 companies, SMEs and the Public Sector. -- Patricia Jacobs

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