4 Hard Truths About Why Your Key Team Members Quit
A while back we talked about the real reasons why you weren’t hiring new employees, and shared the hard truths behind why you might be hesitant to find and hire new talent despite a need for help. Today, I wanted to share a little more hard truth- this time surrounding the reasons why your employees quit. As a business owner, you may have an idea of why you have turnover, but it generally boils down to four main categories.
1. Lack of Recognition
One of the main reasons that employees look for another position has to do with lack of recognition from management. They think “I have been busting my hump for these people for the last ten years and I haven’t had a raise in three and all they ever do is give praise to Julie and I have done twice as much as Julie….etc” Really taking the time to celebrate victories with your employees and recognize their hard work goes a long way to keeping them happy in their current position. And it’s important to think outside of the “employee of the month” box and really get to the heart of recognizing hard work and talent on your team.
Hiring Tip: If your job opening has growth opportunities make sure to list that in the listing. A lot of job seekers are looking for this specifically and will help you stand out amongst the crowd.
2. Lack of Growth
Does the position have the opportunity for promotion? Employees that have no promotion opportunities, are already at the top of their pay grade and have no coaching or mentorship opportunities available to them are the most likely to leave to look for something else. Depending on your company, you may not be able to offer up a promotion in the traditional sense but mentoring or coaching your key team members to grow in their field can go a long way to keeping them interested and engaged.
Hiring Tip: Instead of hiring for a project manager right out of the gate consider hiring for a project manager level 1 or level 2, allowing the candidate room to be promoted over time.
3. Lack of Management
We have all heard the phrase, “people don’t quit jobs, they quit managers.” And this is very true. If they aren’t getting recognition, training or advancement opportunities it’s usually because of a manager. You want to make sure that your managers know what they’re doing and value their team and are doing all those things that are important to be able to keep those people.
4. Money
Everyone has economic needs and it’s important to pay your employees fairly. This should be a given. But when we talk about money and compensation it really comes down to two things.
- Are you being fair? Are you paying the person what they are worth to the company?
- Are you being respectful? Are you paying them what the market values their skill set at?
We can’t all compete to pay the highest wage, but you can make sure that you are being fair and respectful of your employees and their economic needs.
Hiring Tip: It’s also important to note here that often times when an employee comes to you asking for more money, what they really mean is that they want more independence, autonomy or growth opportunities. Those things can often be achieved with a larger salary, but there are other ways to make an employee feel appreciated without offering up more money. So if you are paying a fair wage, it might be a good idea to look at other factors that are at play here.