It's never good when an employee leaves, but when a good employee leaves, it can be devastating. When a dedicated and ambitious employee turns in their notice, it may be too late to keep them, but stopping others from leaving is essential. Consider these three reasons why great employees leave the organization they love and how to stop it from happening in your workplace.
Reason: No Advancement
Stagnation is never good and your best employees can't stand being still. They want to be challenged and grow more through the work they do. One of the main reasons the best employees leave is because their job has become repetitive and boring. Without the opportunity for advancement within a company, the only option is new opportunities outside that company. When the best employees are faced with no advancement, their only recourse is finding a new job.
Solution: More Options
While putting a few more rungs on the corporate ladder may not be feasible, providing your best employees with more opportunities for growth is. Create new positions with applicable pay increases and job duties for employees who take on more responsibility. Even better, offer learning opportunities in the form of conferences and seminars to advance their education in the field. Keeping employees engaged through education and advancement is absolutely pivotal to keeping your best employees.
Reason: No Work-Life Balance
Today's employees aren't always trying to climb the corporate ladder or take on the world. Many just want to generate enough income to support their passions and desires. When overtime, additional hours and erratic shifts disrupt that balance, even great employees may find themselves searching through job ads. A lack of respect or consideration for employees' personal lives is a key reason that good employees leave their job.
Solution: Practice Flexibility
Many businesses believe flexibility involves telecommuting and come-when-you-want hours. While that may be feasible in some industries, simply working with employees to honor their commitments may be enough to keep your best employees. Keep employees on a consistent schedule so they can make and uphold social obligations. Employ adequate staff to allow vacations and time off. If an employee has a standing appointment, work with them to make sure they not only keep their job commitments, but also their personal commitments. By simply having an open dialog with employees to provide them balance, you can keep your best workers.
Reason: Bad Mangers
It's an old adage that employees don't leave companies, they leave managers. A good manager can keep employees on a sinking ship and a bad manager at a great company can make good employees flee. Whether they're inept, overly harsh, or too lax, a bad manager can foster a toxic work environment and chase your best employees away.
Solution: Better Training
Few managers are maliciously attempting to create an unhappy workplace. Many simply don't have the tools needed to make their workplace better. Companies that notice their best employees jumping ship need to ask themselves what they're doing to ensure their managers are able to make a successful work environment. Offer training, meetings, and mentorship programs to foster inter-office discussion about managerial challenges and solutions.
Creating an environment that makes great employees want to put down roots isn't a simple request. It requires respect, training and education far above what your competitors are probably offering. Still, the benefits are great. By creating a work environment that keeps those employees, you can rise above the competition and keep the best people in your field. Start implementing these three solutions for keeping your best employees today.
