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What Are the Main Causes of Employee Turnover?

Pave the way towards your employee’s success .
Employee turnover can be extremely costly to a company. All kinds of studies have shown the impact to
a company’s bottom line. And that cost or impact is a very simple math formula. First, there is the time
and cost of finding and training a suitable replacement. Second is the learning curve involved for the
new hire to get acquainted with the company’s culture and work environment, which can take many
months. The whole process between identifying the replacement – onboarding the replacement and
then getting that replacement up to cruising speed can take 6 to 12 months. In this article, we will be
discussing the major causes of employee turnovers and how to address them.

Lack of Growth

Perhaps the biggest cause behind high employee turnover is the lack of growth and development
prospects in your company. If the employee feels like they are stuck in a dead-end job with no
opportunities to rise up the career ladder, they are likely to call it a quit and switch companies.

Solution

Don’t treat your employees “non strategic assets.” Every employee is an asset and assets should be
invested in. . Provide them opportunities and invest in their learning and development. Not only does
that improve your employee retention but company productivity as employees will feel more motivated
to work harder.

Lack of Feedback and Recognition

Employees want to improve and contribute more to their company. However, if there is no feedback or
recognition on their efforts, they can quickly become highly demoralized, lose interest in their work and
eventually decide to leave your company.

Solution

Encourage and train the management on giving helpful feedback to the employee and to be genuinely
invested in their growth. Have a robust employee recognition program in place so that the efforts of
hard-working employees get easily recognized and appreciated.

Overworking

While some days may require employees to give a little extra due to the scale of the project or tight
deadlines, late hours and a high workload should be an exception, not the norm in your company. If you
are constantly overworking your employees, they will be quick to make a switch to a company that
offers a better work-life balance.

Solution

Understand that oftentimes, less means more. Productivity doesn’t necessarily increase as work hours
increase. In fact, stressed and overworked employees are likely to be less productive and more prone to
making mistakes. If the existing staff is struggling to keep up with the workload, don’t hesitate to hire
new employees or contract some of the responsibilities to freelancers.

Micromanaging

Humans are not robots and are more productive when you offer them greater freedom and flexibility in
their workflow. Robbing them of their agency and making every decision for them will leave them
frustrated with your management and, in the end, force them to leave your company.

Solution

Limit yourself to setting certain guidelines in regards to work and give your employees the leverage to
approach it their own way.

Challenging Bosses

Sometimes, the problem could just be a manager who does not have the skills or temperament for the
position which is causing a lot of your employees to leave your company.

Solution

Keep tabs on the management and make sure they are performing their job well. Use employee survey
tools to assess how your workers feel about their boss. Invest more time and effort in hiring the right
person for such a crucial position. This hire will have a direct impact on employees who you have
invested a significant amount in – a wrong hire at this level of course can be costly for your company..