A few weeks ago, I asked the question “If you were to start looking for a new job today, what would be the number one reason?” And the majority of employees responded…
Better compensation and benefits.
So, as much as we might not want to admit that money drives career decisions, it does. And as human resources professionals, we just can’t ignore this. Money is still important and we have to find ways to take the money conversation “off the table”, meaning that employees need to feel that they are getting paid competitively both internally and externally. They also want relevant benefits that they can use.
It won’t be any surprise that not too far behind compensation and benefits was a three-way tie with opportunities for advancement, supportive management, and flexible work. In some way, I can see all of these reasons being interrelated. Is management supportive of flexible work? Are managers coaching and mentoring employees for future opportunities? Can team members move into positions of greater responsibility and still have a flexible work schedule?
While I tried to keep this survey simple and only allowed for one response, it’s obvious that the reasons employees leave in 2018 are multi-faceted. It also demonstrates how necessary it is for managers and HR to do regular stay interviews and exit interviews as a way to understand what their workforce likes about the company.
The one area of this survey that did surprise me was the less than 4 percent who cited they wanted better training and development. I wonder what employee expectations are when it comes to company training. Is it possible that all of the conversation about “owning your career” means employees feel totally responsible for their own development?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m an advocate for employee self-learning. But organizations still have an obligation to train employees. And train them well. Eventually, organizations will want workers to be ready to take on additional responsibilities. Employees want opportunities for advancement (as evidenced by these survey responses). So, let’s hope employees are getting more than enough training and it’s the best training ever.
I realize this is a short, unscientific survey, but it does give you some indicators about what employees value in their jobs. And there really aren’t any true shockers. So, organizations don’t have excuses not to address them.
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Beth says
I wonder if companies are just simply doing better at training and development in skills than they are in caring about the “people” aspect, like work/life balance and benefits/perks? It’s also about broken expectations, I believe. If your employer brand doesn’t match up to the internal practices, you just won’t see the longevity in your hires. More here: http://recruit.ee/bl-employer-branding-simple-eb-bh
Dean Davis says
Excellent article. It is great to see stats as they really provide an insight into what is going on in the workplace. It definitely is up to employers to make those changes. I see one of the main reasons is a flexible work schedule and I recently came across this article that asks HR professionals are you encouraging flexible working? It really complements this article and address the fact that maybe flexible working is something that we need to start thing about http://blog.rezoomo.com/encouraging-flexible-working/
Lovepreet says
Nice article. Money is not always the reason to leave companies. It mostly depends on the work environment of an organization. If employees are getting good opportunities, professional training, flexible work schedule, and of course value in the job, they can not think of leaving the job.
While hiring, try to find the best fit for job profile using the right strategy.
Lovepreet says
Nice article. Money is not always the reason to leave companies. It mostly depends on the work environment of an organization. If employees are getting good opportunities, professional training, flexible work schedule, and of course value in the job, they can not think of leaving the job.
While hiring, try to find the best fit for job profile using the right strategy. http://bit.ly/2sKoOnh
Cherry McCarthy says
It’s not always about the money! I feel like most people leave due to management and was shocked the percentage for training wasn’t higher. I feel like both of those areas are very company dependent. Being a part of a corporation I can see it would probably be a better situation than being with a small company, so that would matter as well. Overall there are less “perks” when you are with a small company. Size matters when it comes to that! Interesting to see these results and how they will change over the next decade. 10 years ago having a “flexible schedule” didn’t even exist.
MF says
As your first line in this article states “A few weeks ago, I asked the question “If you were to start looking for a new job today, what would be the number one reason?” And the majority of employees responded…” this article should be entitled “Why employees WOULD leave companies in 2018”
For a fair title, you should either change it or change the whole subject and ask the question to the people that already left a job for another this year. See the issue here?
So, yeah… very biased title…
duc thu says
Money is not always the reason to leave companies. It mostly depends on the work environment of an organization.