In today's times, it's an assumption that Millennials are frequent job hoppers, and they will leave their existing job for very minimal reasons as compared to the older generations. It seems they are looking forward to new job offers, career change, and money frequently rather than showing dissenting loyalty to one Organization. But, on the contrary, this assumption is incorrect. Employees quit their job for several reasons and the majority of these reasons are under the employer's control.
You don't resign when you resign, mental resignation happens much before. Physical resignation is the outcome of a complete loss of hope more than anything else. An employee doesn't take an overnight decision to leave the organization, it gets built up overtime. Some experts say, give money and retain employees. Though money motivates, but only to a point. Rarely will an employee leave just for money, there are other reasons for his decision to quit. Let's see the top 5 critical reasons why an employee quits.
Lack of Trust and respect
Trust is not a word; it is an attitude. Lack of trust can be devastating, and an employee takes quick decision to leave in the absence of trust. Supervisors who struggle with trusting their employees end up creating restrictive work environments that leave employees feeling stressed, anxious, and unable to do their best work. A good manager will always create an environment where everyone trusts and respects each other. In this environment, the disagreements and conflicts are resolved quickly, and employees won't think of leaving a healthy environment.
Lack of recognition and appreciation
Every employee puts in effort into the job and expects something more than just the salary in return; that's recognition and appreciation. No employee wants to continue to work hard and bring value to an organization if their efforts are overlooked and ignored. What matters at the workplace is helping employees feel appreciated. Recognition and appreciation are a fundamental human need. When employees and their work are appreciated, their productivity and engagement rise, and they are motivated to continue or advance their good work. It's very important to call someone out and appreciate at the right time and in the right forum. Appreciating an employee in a town-hall meeting or a company gathering is more impactful than doing it in a one-on-one conversation.
Lack of growth opportunities
The greatest asset of an organization is its people, and these people need to be given growth opportunities to move forward. Lack of growth opportunities will lead to boredom in the current job and employees will no longer be interested in executing their current responsibilities and will look for a different opportunity outside. Every single job will plateau at some point in time. Creating growth and career path for each employee is a must to keep them engaged and make them work towards that goal.
Managers
There is a very common saying that people don't leave the organization, they leave their managers. High-performing employees often leave an organization due to conflicts with their direct supervisors. These conflicts may be due to disagreements over assignments, lack of resources, opportunities, and lack of growth, making the work environment hostile and toxic. Managers need to remain professional, manage employees fairly, and give them all the possible opportunities to outshine. Being Managers, act in ways that constantly assure employees that their problems are your problems. You own up to their problems, they own up to yours.
Organization Values & Culture
"I want to work in an organization that is more aligned with my values and culture that gives me more authority, and opportunity to grow". Culture is defined as the collective actions, opinions, standards, and language of the people in an organization that signifies "the way things are done around here". A common criticism is that there is no clear perspective of where the organization is headed and not being able to see how an employee’s role fits into the broader picture. Leaders at the top should act as role models and drive the organization's culture with inclusion. The defined company culture should reflect in ideally every action, policy, decision and communication. Employee stays in an organization where they believe in culture, mission and understanding of the values.
The cost of substituting a lost employee is huge and can be reduced significantly if we treat every employee as an asset to the Organization. Trusting employees, giving them authority and autonomy to accomplish their work, rewarding and recognizing them at the right time and right place, providing them ample growth opportunities, and aligning them to the Organization’s goals will help retain high performing employees.