Talent retention is a hot topic that never gets old.
Based on my experience, here are the primary reasons why people quit their jobs, in order of importance:
Although as leaders and managers we may not be able to control every one of these aspects in every situation, we can still impact a lot of these by making some simple changes in our thinking and behavior. In fact, if we can address the first problem well, all the others factors can be mitigated to a great extent or eliminated altogether.
In a large organization, it is impossible for the senior leaders at the top to have a connection down to every individual in all of their teams and stop attrition all together. However, if every manager from the top down has a goal of doing everything in their power to not lose any of their *direct* reports, and if this philosophy cascades throughout the organization, then, suddenly, retention even at a large organizational level doesn’t appear so daunting.
Each manager typically has a manageable number of direct reports, and should be able to keep a good pulse on these small number of people. It should therefore be easier to identify any potential problems and act on them proactively. If every manager in the organization does the same, it will help solve the talent retention problem throughout the organization. This divide and conquer approach really works, as we can break the problem down into smaller manageable chunks.
Although no manager thinks losing people is okay, most managers don’t explicitly think of setting a personal goal to not lose even a single member of their direct reports. Changing to this style of thinking can cause a subtle, yet significant change.
From the employee's perspective, the fact that his or her manager cares enough about them to have such a goal might be a reason in itself to stay!
Based on my experience, here are the primary reasons why people quit their jobs, in order of importance:
- Direct managers
- Lack of recognition for their efforts
- Lack of exciting work
- Not enough money and/or career progression
- Other reasons - commute, hours etc.
Although as leaders and managers we may not be able to control every one of these aspects in every situation, we can still impact a lot of these by making some simple changes in our thinking and behavior. In fact, if we can address the first problem well, all the others factors can be mitigated to a great extent or eliminated altogether.
In a large organization, it is impossible for the senior leaders at the top to have a connection down to every individual in all of their teams and stop attrition all together. However, if every manager from the top down has a goal of doing everything in their power to not lose any of their *direct* reports, and if this philosophy cascades throughout the organization, then, suddenly, retention even at a large organizational level doesn’t appear so daunting.
Each manager typically has a manageable number of direct reports, and should be able to keep a good pulse on these small number of people. It should therefore be easier to identify any potential problems and act on them proactively. If every manager in the organization does the same, it will help solve the talent retention problem throughout the organization. This divide and conquer approach really works, as we can break the problem down into smaller manageable chunks.
Although no manager thinks losing people is okay, most managers don’t explicitly think of setting a personal goal to not lose even a single member of their direct reports. Changing to this style of thinking can cause a subtle, yet significant change.
From the employee's perspective, the fact that his or her manager cares enough about them to have such a goal might be a reason in itself to stay!
