One of the biggest HR challenges most businesses have to tackle is employee retention. Thanks to low unemployment rates, employees now have more opportunities and can decide to jump ship even when things are fine. Losing its talentpool can be devastating, even for large companies. The trend of talented employees joining competitor firms can be a double whammy as your competition gets to reap the rewards of your company’s employee training program.
When it comes to retaining your top-performers, it’s a war out there. Competing HR departments are always trying to lure each other’s employees by offering them better salaries and packages. In these hostile times, bad company policies can soar the employee attrition rate. The following are 7 reasons why employees often look for change.
Hostile Work Environment
Companies that are constantly on a scapegoat-finding mission usually have poor performance and high employee attrition. People love going to a workplace where they are allowed to make mistakes. Shining the light on employees every time they drop the ball creates a hostile environment that no one wants to be a part of. The constant fear of being held responsible adds to the stress and can force employees to look for opportunities elsewhere instead of bettering themselves.
Inadequate Benefit Packages
Employee benefits play a huge role in retention. Most good companies offer great packages, which goes a long way into increasing employee satisfaction. For instance, Google offers comprehensive health insurance policies to all of its employees. The company also has on-site doctors. For a small or medium-sized business offering an extensive benefits package may seem complicated and it definitely is. Coordinating with different providers can be a challenging task for CEOs of small businesses. This is where firms such as Benefit Administration Company come in. They simplify benefits management for both small and large companies as well as help organizations stay compliant with changing regulations and laws. It is important to remember that if you do provide an employee benefits plan, then you may need to get it audited. An employee benefit plan audit can be essential in making sure that all the rules and regulations are being kept to, and the plan assets are not being misused.
Biased Performance Reviews and Appraisals
Annual appraisals and performance reviews often play a huge role in employees quitting their companies. Year-end bonuses and increments are often tagged with employee ratings. This means an unfair performance review system can act as a tipping point and force employees to resign.
Appraisals and performance reviews should be constructive and most importantly fair.
Long Working Hours
A healthy work-life balance ensures your employees have enough time to go home and recharge themselves. While a few days of extra hours is usually acceptable, a work culture that compromises family time can be damaging. Employees returning late often try and compensate by staying up late and spending time with their families. This, in turn, causes them to lose sleep. The culture of long working hours ends up affecting productivity and employee satisfaction. Most HR managers in good firms set strict rules about long hours and encourage flexible timings.
Micromanagement at Every Level
No one wants to stick around in a company where they are constantly made to feel like they are not doing anything right. Employees need to be empowered, which means supervisors need to be trained to trust employees working under them. Allowing a certain degree of freedom to make decisions can improve employee satisfaction at every level.
Employee Burnout
Employee burnout is probably one of the top reasons why people leave their companies. This results from months of stressful working conditions, unrealistic goal setting, poor incentive structure, lack of wellness programs, and inadequate vacation leaves. The accumulation of all of these factors is often so great that some employees leave even before securing another job.
Lack of Future Growth Opportunities
One of the reasons talented employees leave their jobs at small companies and join large multinational firms is because of future growth potential. A company that offers a limited scope of growth can make employees feel trapped and worried about achieving their life goals.
Educational programs, talent recognition, promotions can greatly incentivize the workforce and thus reduce employee loss.
