Why Employees Leave Your Company
Data on GeekWire indicates that the average tenure of an employee in the United States is only a few years; some employees only stay as little as one year at even the top tech companies. (The average tenure at Google for 2012 was only 1.1 years.)
So when employees leave your company, is it because this is the new trend, or is it because of something deeper and more flawed within the corporation? Knowing why employees leave can help stimulate change for the better and, consequently, aid in employee retention.
Employees will leave if there is no vision for the future. Although some people are OK moving along aimlessly, most people want to know where they are going and prefer to be working toward a goal or objective. But it isn’t enough just to have a vision; the company also has to provide motivation and a connection to the end result. If employees don’t feel their roles serve a purpose in the bigger picture, they are likely to feel underutilized and lose motivation.
Maybe employees are leaving because the company is misunderstood. Surveying several HR departments and talent-acquisition specialists at companies across the United States, LinkedIn found that more than two-thirds of respondents said internal programs were well-known among employees. LinkedIn then interviewed employees to see if they were aware of their companies' internal programs and found that only 25 percent claimed they knew of such programs.
A quote attributed to Confucius states, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” While work will always be work—and there are some jobs and work functions that it's likely no one has a passion for—there are still ways to make employees love coming to work each day. Fun, food, free stuff, and enriching experiences can all be ways to enchant existing employees and tempt new talent.
Notice that after everything else, we are just now talking about compensation. That is because in another survey by LinkedIn, it was found that when employees were giving reasons why they had left their companies, “better compensation or benefits” came in third behind “greater opportunity for advancement” and “better leadership.”
A separate survey revealed that employees would consider leaving their current company if another company offered “better work/life balance.” This just goes to show that money isn’t everything. While it can be an important factor in maintaining and luring in strong talent, it's foolish to believe that other aspects aren’t in play besides a company’s ability to offer a big payday.
By understanding why employees quit, a company can remedy the situation as best as possible to keep its current employees and better satisfy everyone involved. In their exit interviews, listen to employees and find out their reasons for leaving. And don’t take things personally. Instead, use these responses as a chance to get better and improve the company’s practices and perception.
