Recruiting people who fit in culturally and possess the desired Skill set can be tricky enough; getting them to stay can be even tougher. With so many opportunities to switch to a new role in a different organisation, many individuals decide to hop from one job to another, lured by a higher pay packet and attractive benefits.

Salary certainly has an impact on staff retention and is one of the major reasons that many decide to call it a day. But while it’s a common gripe, remuneration is far from the only cause of resignations.

Reasons for dissatisfaction vary, but broadly, people tend to be more concerned by a lack of opportunity to progress, poor Leadership, problems with a manager, lack of recognition, poor communication and not having a clear enough purpose.

We break these grievances down into the four main reasons that people resign, along with the steps you can take to address them:

1. Lack of career development

 This is often cited as the most common reason for people to leave their jobs. While career progression can be defined by moving up a pay grade, employees also value having opportunities to take on fresh challenges and responsibilities as well as developing new skills. Offer new hires the chance to improve their skills through training and ensure you’re discussing their development needs in reviews and appraisals.

Also respect that not everybody wants to manage, nor is everyone suitable for a management role. Organisations should let staff choose between career paths that allow them to cater to their strengths, either by becoming specialists or taking on people management responsibility.

2. Poor leadership

People tend to move up the traditional career ladder if they perform well in their role, and at some point along the way, they’ll begin to take on responsibility for managing a team. But while that individual will have developed excellent technical skills, most organisations don’t provide any management or leadership training.

As a result, employees bear the brunt of untrained managers, become dissatisfied and opt to leave the company. Define what good leadership means in your organisation, and provide support and training to help managers develop these critical skills.

3. Lack of recognition

 This issue is intrinsically linked to leadership, as good managers tend to recognise strong performance through a mixture of financial and non-financial rewards. Recognition can be just as effective, though, through simply acknowledging when an employee has gone above and beyond. Managers should recognise outstanding work publicly as well as in regular one-to-ones with their staff. It could be in the form of a sincere thank you, a thoughtful gift or perhaps an opportunity to be involved in exciting new projects.

4. Uncertainty around company values

Organisations need to be clear on their long-term vision and values. People need to feel like what they’re doing every day matters and contributes to the success of the firm, so you should share information about the company’s performance and set expectations. Employees also need to understand and believe in the organisation’s particular values – it’s not just about what you do but how.

Employee engagement can seem elusive. Being truly engaged involves someone having an emotional attachment to their work, their colleagues and the value that they, as individuals, are bringing to the company. A positive attachment directly affects productivity and overall satisfaction with a job, leading to greater success for the business.

Plus, it’s well known that organisations with high levels of staff satisfaction do better financially. There’s no long-term business development strategy that doesn’t rely heavily on the vision of your best employees and their drive to make it happen.

If you’d like to learn more about how 3R Strategy can help you with employee engagement or reward and recognition strategies, drop us a line at: [email protected]