10 Reasons Your Best Employees Are Leaving and What to Do

Do you have trouble keeping highly skilled and engaged employees on your team? If you’re noticing a pattern of good employees flying the coup, it’s time to pinpoint the problem so you can quickly solve it. 

High employee turnover rates are costing your company more than you may know. 

• • Cost of replacing entry level employees: 30-50% of their annual salary
• • Cost of replacing mid-level employees: 150% of their annual salary
• • Cost of replacing high-level or highly specialized employees: 400% of their annual salary

In this article, we troubleshoot 10 reasons good employees leave your company and what you can do to prevent future resignations.

Top Reasons Good Employees Leave

1. Their Position Was Not What They Expected

After a lengthy interview process, you select the best candidate for the position. Then, with little to no notice, your new employee tells you they want to quit. When a new employee quits almost immediately after starting, it’s a sign that they weren’t properly informed of their job description.

What to Do:   In an effort to not waste your time, be sure to post the vacant position with a highly detailed job title. During the interview process, outline all of the job duties, expectations and desired work schedule. Make certain that your candidates fully understand what’s expected of them and allow them to ask as many questions as needed about the position. Offer the selected candidate a trial day and give a tour of the office; introduce them to the staff; and allow them to see what’s in store before accepting the job offer.  

2. Poor Management Caused Them to Quit

In your research on this subject, you’ve most likely read that people don’t quit jobs; they quit managers. In a recent survey, Gallup shared that 82% of the time, companies fail to hire a manager with the right talent for the job. This inability to properly hire supervisors and managers leads to 50% of U.S. workers quitting; citing poor management.  

What to Do:   When interviewing for managerial positions, be certain that the candidates:

• • Are able to effectively motivate a team with a compelling mission;
• • Have an assertiveness to reach goals with a compassionate nature;
• • Can list effective examples of how they deal with resistance; 
• • Show a variety of communication styles for varying personalities;
• • Contain strong and efficient team building skills;
• • Rewards and recognizes good employee work ethics.

3. They Don’t Feel Empowered

When dealing with highly skilled employees, a company can easily chase them away by not empowering them. Replace your urge to micromanage your employees with a more positive tactic. Place your trust in their ability to take initiative and get the job done on their own. 

What to Do:   Inc.com shares an article that showcases 8 different strategies for empowering your employees:

• • Foster Open Communication
• • Reward Self-Improvement
• • Encourage Safe Failure
• • Provide Plenty of Context
• • Clearly Define Roles
• • Require Accountability
• • Support Their Independence
• • Appreciate Their Efforts

4. Internal Politics or Poor Moral 

Poor internal politics accounts for 35% of the workforce quitting their job. You don’t want to create or encourage a poor working environment that leads to employees giving their letters of resignation to get away from the politics. Boost morale in your office and be sure to nip any frivolous power struggles in the bud.

What to Do:   Get inspiration for ways to keep the morale high in your office from our recently published article, 50 Simple Ways to Boost Morale in the Workplace.

5. No Room for Growth in Pay or Position

According to Payscale, “65% of employees left jobs in 2015 because they wanted more money,” and, “93% of US adults say they left their employer in order to change roles.” Companies unwilling to offer pay raises or promotions are one of the top reasons good employees leave.

What to Do:   Your highly skilled employees, undoubtedly, we know their worth. In order to keep these engaged, productive and efficient employees you have to be open to giving incentives to grow within the company. About.com shares an informative article, How to Communicate a Pay Raise, that will walk you through the HR do’s and don’ts.

6. They’re Overworked and Burnt Out

According to Cornerstone, “29% of American employees resign due to work overload and lack of healthy work-life balance.” We understand that good employees are hard to come by; and a great employee can produce a great deal of work. But be careful not to take advantage of a hard worker by overloading them with unrealistic quotas and deadlines.

What to Do:   Contribute to a healthy frame of mind by rewarding employees with free lunch, an onsite gym or free dinner delivery for nights they work late. Also, be sure to properly staff your business so that there are enough workers for the workload and production requirements.

7. Little to No Employment Benefits Offered

Aflac teaches us that, “42% of employees say improving their benefits package is one thing their employers could do to keep them in their jobs.” Offering great employee benefits has many incentives. Not only will you be able to recruit new talent, but you’ll also be able to keep your current staff satisfied and productive.  

What to Do:   Read Inc.com’s latest article, How to Build a Competitive Employee Benefits Package, to walk through a highly detailed quiz that ends in an employee benefit package that’s right for you.

8. Underappreciated Employees Are Fed Up

Devaluing or underappreciating your employees is a sure way to send them running into the arms of a more attentive company. 43% of employees polled said they quit their jobs due to a lack of recognition for their efforts. Superstar employees don’t need to be constantly coddled or told their doing well, but offering positive reinforcement sporadically will entice them to stay.

What to Do:   Have you heard of the latest trend, value-based employee recognition? It’s a type of recognition that focuses on team achievements by creating positive social pressures to align with the company’s overall values. It increases employee engagement and productivity while decreasing turnover rates. It’s reported that, “90% of the companies surveyed said [values-based recognition] positively impacted engagement, vs. 67% without a values-based recognition program.”

9. Skilled Employees That Aren’t Challenged 

Consider that, “Boredom is a distinct emotional state in which the level of stimulation is perceived as unsatisfactorily low. The lack of external stimulation leads to increased neural arousal in search of variety – failure to satisfy this leads to experience of boredom.” When an employee is bored, you’re not satisfying their thirst for arousal. Simply giving your talented employee busywork will dull their senses and in turn, dull their happiness levels. An employee experiencing boredom will likely look towards other career options that will be more fulfilling.

What to Do:   Read this article published by Recruiter.com, 8 Ways to Keep Your Workplace Fresh and Your Employees Productive, to get ideas on how to keep your staff engaged, challenged and satisfied.

10. Disorganized or Lack of Structure in Company 

No matter how dreamy a job is, if your corporation’s structure is disorganized, your most talented employees will eventually jump ship. No one wants to follow a leader that is unsure of the future of the company or is unable to properly organize the smallest of tasks.

What to Do:   Allow your staff to focus on producing high quality products and services while you maintain a healthy structure for all to enjoy. Follow this 10-step process to create and maintain a healthy organization structure for your company.

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Give Your Employees A Reason To Stay!  

A Courteous Communications has been providing award winning answering services since 1986. The only reason we’ve been able to do what we do so well, is by hiring and keeping star employees on our staff. Some of our employees have been with us for 20 years; a trait we love bragging about. We understand the main reasons good employees leave, and we take our own advice by making sure our staff is happy and taken care of. 

We hope our tips, that have taken over 30 years to develop, help inspire you to make positive changes in your staffing policies.