TERRY McKENNA is principal and co-founder of Employee Performance Strategies, Inc. (EPS), based in Kure Beach, NC. EPS helps clients increase their competitive advantage and profitability through people. Terry provides keynotes and leadership seminars for businesses and associations. Contact information: (888) 788-9090,
perform@eps-i.com,
www.eps-i.com.
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[ THE PERSONNEL TOUCH ]
Why employees quit
Employee turnover is one of the most frustrating business issues facing retailers, since it negatively impacts the business in three ways:
- Expense
- Customer service
- Teamwork and morale
If you haven’t already calculated what employee turnover is costing your business, please do. The intangibles of turnover are a bit difficult to place a price tag on.
Turnover affects your customers in terms of their confidence in your business when they perceive your sales associate’s position as a revolving door and it affects your existing employees whose teamwork and morale suffer as they are forced to provide additional shift coverage when short-handed. When employees are overextended, don’t think your customers escape the pain, since they may end up the unintended targets of a poor attitude by the person behind the counter who is representing your business and supposedly safeguarding your investment.
The first step in reducing turnover is to determine why employees are quitting in the first place.
Turnover factors
Studies dating back to the 1940s as to the reasons why employees quit their jobs haven’t changed in 60 years. Here are the top eight reasons, in no particular order:
- Boredom or a lack of challenge. A lot of jobs are boring, routine and mundane. Solicit your employees’ input on how to reinvent their jobs in a way that will stimulate their energy, enthusiasm and passion. The mere fact that you even asked for their input will demonstrate in their eyes that you respect and value their insights.
- Lack of personal growth and development. The opportunities to learn, develop new skills and grow as a person are part of our DNA.
- Limited advancement opportunities. Ditto No. 2.
- Lack of appreciation. A recent Gallup poll found that almost two out of three people receive no workplace recognition in a given year. This underscores a recent finding from the U.S. Department of Labor that found the No. 1 reason why people leave their jobs has nothing to do with pay or promotion; they leave because they don’t feel appreciated.
- Lack of leadership. A recent study conducted by MasterWorks found that 95 percent of employees said the main factor in deciding to stay or leave their job was whether they had a trusting relationship with their immediate supervisor.
- Imbalance between work and personal life. People do not have two separate lives, work and personal. We have but one life and personal matters do find their way into the workplace. Management has no choice but to work to strike a balance as best you can.
- Non-competitive compensation. Few people expect high pay, but everyone expects fair pay. While your employees may tell you the reason they are quitting is for a higher-paying job, keep in mind that it’s a whole lot easier to tell the boss they are leaving for more money than it is being honest with the boss by telling them they are a jerk and that is why they are quitting.
- Ineffective co-workers. Nothing is more frustrating than working with employees who are lazy and refuse to pull their weight. The Department of Labor concluded in a study a few years ago that 87 percent of all hiring failures occur not because people can’t do the job, but because they won’t. This is consistent with a Gallup survey on employee productivity, which found:
- Employees not engaged in their jobs: 55 percent
- Employees actively disengaged in their jobs: 19 percent
- Employees engaged in their jobs: 26 percent
Look hard in the mirror and grade your scorecard on these eight factors.
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