Why People Quit

 

By Neal Glatt

As a coach, I get to hear how people intimately feel about their job and workplace.  Often, I learn far more about people’s true feelings, and why they quit jobs, than their manager does.  Here’s the top three reasons they’re quitting good jobs, and what can be done to keep good people…

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Lack of Growth and Development Opportunities

I quit my first job when my old boss told me that to attend an industry education event, I needed to use vacation time and pay my own registration and travel expenses.  His lack of investment in me as an employee meant that I could never reach my full potential if I stuck around.  As a result, I found a job at Case Snow Management where learning was encouraged and sponsored.  Their investment in me as a salesperson returned tens of millions of dollars in sales.

I’m not unique - many of the people I coach feel like they could achieve more but simply aren’t given the opportunity by their managers to grow.  It isn’t uncommon for them to quit within a year of completing our coaching sessions because there is no development opportunity to take its place.  Continuous growth and development drives employee retention while removing the benefit drives turnover.

Lack of Appreciation

I most recently quit an organization where I worked with great friends creating content that helped hundreds of people in the industry.  Despite the fun we had and satisfaction we enjoyed as peers, I felt like my best efforts went unappreciated.  After a series of conversations that made it clear there was no interest in creating a better future, I made the difficult decision to leave.

When a manager sends the message that someone isn’t that important - whether by lack of enthusiasm or effort to make their work shine or by not being fully present and focused for individual conversations - workers lose all enthusiasm for the job.  Managers make the difference in employee engagement by showing they care through appreciation.

Lack of Purpose

Employees want to love what they do and the difference they make in their job.  When someone tells me that they don’t really care about the trade they work in or that the job is just a job, it never surprises me when they eventually move on.

Unfortunately, managers often don’t talk enough about why the company exists or how the work done positively affects customers’ businesses or lives.  As soon as I was convinced that I would make the world a better place through my own business, I made the decision to quit an otherwise wonderful job.  Purpose is the thing everyone is chasing in life that managers routinely ignore.


The Solution

If you’re worried about your best people leaving, why haven’t you enrolled them in GrowTheBench yet?  For only $97 per month, you’ll show up to ten employees that you care, help them grow, and let them hear how important the industry is through the hundreds of courses they’ll access.  I’m so confident that it will make a difference, I’m willing to give you a month for free to try it out with the team.  Simply add our All-Access Pass to your cart by clicking here and use code TRIAL at check out to see what a difference a commitment to your people can make in their attitude, results, and retention.


Tags: Growth , Quitting , Opportunitys ,