Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Why People Leave Their Jobs

Bravetta Hassell of Chief Learning Officer magazine has a good article this month titled, "Employees Really Do Leave Managers.  Use L&D to Change That."  Here is an excerpt:

When it comes down to it, having free snacks in the employee break room, for example, isn’t as important as having a manager who appreciates his employees.  According to the report, “The Human Touch for Tech Talent: Employee Retention Could Be as Simple as ‘Thank You’,” employee responses to questions about what attracted them to a company and what kept them there say as much. The survey showed that 60 percent of employees said when analyzing a job offer, knowing whether staff feel appreciated by managers matters. Variables like how fast a person could move up in the company or how they’d be evaluated for raises were of lesser concern. Other highlights from the survey included:
  • 33 percent of respondents want to know their manager always has their back compared to 22 percent of people who valued having a clearly defined career path, and 17 percent of respondents who found it important to receive regular performance feedback.
  • 32 percent of respondents who looked back at ‘worst boss’ experiences said that person never gave credit where it was due.
  • 28 percent of respondents to the same questions said that person rarely gave verbal praise or support.
What can learning and development professionals do about these findings?   According to Hassell, they can rethink the types of capabilities that they focus on during professional development  programs and initiatives.  These findings suggest a renewed emphasis on how to delegate effectively, how to recognize employees for their work, how to celebrate team successes, and how to maintain an open and ongoing dialogue with subordinates.  

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