Do You Know the 5 Biggest Reasons Employees Leave Their Company? The Answers May Surprise You

Do You Know the 5 Biggest Reasons Employees Leave Their Company? The Answers May Surprise You

Do You Do HR Right? Know the Dos and Don’ts of HR – infographic

When Employees Leave, Do You Ask Why?

There has been a lot of talk about 2013 being the year that employees make the jump and seek new employment. That being said, how can you make higher turnover work for your firm?

Change your exit interview. Instead of going with the usual, “Why are you leaving?” – which most employees won’t give an honest answer to, being as they’re already out the door – try switching to the more revealing, “What made you start looking?” instead.

This question can yield informative responses, such as poor team management or other organizational dysfunction, that may not have been mentioned in the standard exit interview. And once you have this information, HR, you can use it to start making changes to minimize future turnover.

If you’re not planning on doing that, don’t bother having an exit interview anyway. Its will just be a waste of everyone’s time. The only reason to have an exit interview is to gain information that can help you improve the organization. You can’t fix it for this employee who’s leaving, but you can use their experience to improve it for others.

The Value of Mentorship for Young Working Professionals

98% of Millennials believe working with a mentor is a necessary component in development.  

In the 14th Annual Global CEO Survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Millennials also rank training and development three times higher than cash bonuses when it comes to employee benefits.  

The younger generation has been generally more difficult when it comes to developing employee retention strategy. Millennials tend to feel less connected with the organization, and 1 in 4 potential employees plan to leave their jobs in the next 12 months.  

According to Vineet Nayar, Vice-Chairman and CEO of HCL Technologies in India:  

“With Generation Y coming into the business, hierarchies have to disappear. Generation Y expects to work in communities of mutual interest and passion — not structured hierarchies. Consequently, people-management strategies will have to change so that they look more like Facebook and less like the pyramid structures we are used to.”  

Read the Business Insider article

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Being “Too Nice?” The Psychology of Effective People Management

Often, human resources get a load of complaints about managers who are too mean to their employees. On the flip side, being too nice can lead to just as many problems.  

In a comparison, this article examines therapist Lori Gottlieb, who had diagnosed patients who were unhappy because their parents had been too supportive, too accommodating, and never gave negative feedback during their childhoods.  

Likewise, the communication tactics used in HR and business management have an impact on employees – their satisfaction with the jobs they do, and how they grow in their careers in the company.

For instance, here are a few tactics to avoid:   

• Never admit to yourself or others that your workers may make errors.
• You should only give positive feedback.
• You should always say yes to your workers.
• You should solve every problem.
• Your people never move up, just out.  

Read the complete BNET news article

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Employee Evaluation: Are Scorecards and Metrics Still Effective?

This week, the Harvard Business Review comments on the trend in management to favor quantifiable, top-down metrics.  

In fact, psychologist Barry Schwartz has recently observed that many areas of life are increasingly bound up with rules that limit the ability of individuals to use judgment and make the best decision they see.  

What this could mean for employers and HR professionals is that a rigid system of management that disables employee judgment creates hurdles, and could also work against the goal of improving overall engagement in the workforce.  

While metrics and policies for employees are effective HR tools, there are some things to exercise caution for balance. From the Review:  

“Invest in your front-line employees and then trust them to make the right decisions for the customer. Otherwise you’ll be managing a group of automatons who, when confronted with situations outside the rigid rules, will be virtually guaranteed to make the wrong judgment.”  

Read the full Harvard Business Review article

Image: Worakit Sirijinda / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

5 Types of Bosses That Drive Employees Away

According to Entrepreneur Magazine, there are five types of managers that lead to employees getting burned out on the job or unhappy with their work environment.  

The research included more than 400 participants, and they found that employees grow increasingly more dissatisfied, and worse, can result in their leaving the company.  

“Nearly 60 percent of workers in the OfficeTeam study said they stayed on the job, despite having a nasty boss. Only 11 percent quit immediately, without another job lined up. Another 27 percent planned their escape, finding another job first and then leaving.”  

1. The Micromanager
2. The Bad Communicator
3. The Bully
4. The Saboteur
5. Mixed Nuts  

 

Read the complete Entrepreneur Magazine article

 

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Without Employee Development Opportunities, Training Is a Wasted Investment

U.S. organizations spend a reported $134 billion on employee training programs every year, however, new research suggests that it could be a waste – if businesses don’t offer the chances for employees to advance or move up the ladder.  

“Most of the training research suggests that investing in employee training and development should help retain employees,” Maria Kraimer, associate professor and co-author of the study, told BusinessNewsDaily.  

“But we found that providing developmental support, such as training opportunities and career mentoring, to employees who do not believe there are attractive career opportunities for them within the company, led to such employees leaving the organization.”  

It’s critical for businesses to have regular career planning discussions with their employees.  

Read the Business News Daily article

 

Image: Arvind Balaraman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Reasons to Bring Back the Lunch Hour at Your Company

Has it become part of office culture for employees to eat lunch at their desks where you work?  

This month, a new campaign called “Take Back Your Lunch” was initiated by The Energy Project, encouraging employers to minimize worker burnout in their organizations.  

Many employees who tend to work at their desks at lunchtime would argue that doing so increases their productivity and shows a high level of commitment to their employers.

However, what is concerning for HR and management professionals is that this work culture could be damaging other areas:   

• Lessening their interests in the work they do (and the effort they put into it)
• Shortening job retention with your organization due to burnout
• Increasing the frequency of bad moods and conflict in the workplace
• Creating lower energy, leading to overall poor employee wellness  

“We want you to do anything that helps you relax or recharge — walk, take a yoga class, have a picnic lunch in the park,” says Emily Pines, the Take Back Your Lunch co-founder. “The main thing is you walk away, get out of the office, disengage from work.”

Read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette news article

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Work Watch Survey: American Employees Feel Overqualified for Their Jobs

From a Work Watch survey by Randstad, more than 1/3 of employees in the U.S. feel overqualified to do their jobs. However, they do want to acquire new skills or be more challenged at work.  

The recruiting firm found that among 1,000 participants, 33% felt overqualified, 65% felt appropriately qualified, and only 3% felt underqualified.  

“It’s surprising that one out of every three American employees feels over-qualified in their job,” said Jim Link, managing director of Human Resources for Randstad, in a statement.

“The data suggests that U.S. workers are less challenged by their current jobs. It also raises questions about how this will affect employee turnover and retention as the job market recovers.”

•  74% of younger workers and 56% of older workers want more skills 
• 50% of Gen Y and Millennial workers wish they had more hard skills (e.g., trade knowledge)
• 30% of overall American workers want more soft skills, such as social and leadership skills  

Read the Atlanta Business Chronicle article

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