Why people quit from an organisation?
Some times I wonder why people change companies. I found that some people always want to keep changing and that’s their way of life. Some quit for personal reasons like change in city of living, health constraints, etc. For the rest, companies contribute the most to make their employees quit.
These are the reasons I think that contribute the most.
Poor leadership and management
A bad relationship with manager and uninspiring leaders can make any employee, even the “star” ones quit. When the leaders are not passionate, incapable of taking decisions and unable to guide the team, it spoils the day-to-day life at work. It sets up an environment which is not comfortable and peaceful and no one wants to stay long in such a place.
No learning and growth
Our workplace is the best platform to learn. People want to continuously learn and are not happy with repetitive work. Everyone knows new things can’t be learnt everyday at work. It’s business and not college. But when it becomes monotonous over a limit, people quit.
It is also important to find strengths and weaknesses of an individual and mentor him/her. When people even after spending years at an office feel lost in their career and have not potentially travelled anywhere from where they started, it doesn’t feel right for them. It instigates thoughts to leave.
Employees are underpaid
When an organisation doesn’t pay upto the market standards or employees become aware that they can earn better than what they make currently, they start thinking of quitting. It is very important to pay people what they deserve. If one organisation doesn’t, there are other organisations who are ready to.
Lack of appreciation and meaningfulness of one’s work:
“I work. I deliver. But I have no idea if what I do matters. I have no idea why I did what I did. I have no idea if it makes a difference. It all feels like a mess”— thoughts that best say that someone is going to quit. People should always be appreciated for their good work. They should know the impact of the work they do, how it benefitted business, how it changes lives of other people, how it aligns with the goals of the company.
A lack of purpose leads to loss of motivation to work.
Peers don’t like the workplace
When some employees have built a dislike for the workplace and if they are people who a lot more people look upto, there is a high chance more people start feeling negative about the workplace. It’s a ripple effect and it can spread quickly even before anyone notices.
No employee is going to stay forever in a company. People will eventually change for one reason or another. But what can a company do to make it happen less often? How to make sure people work willingly?
Proactively understand what your employee wants:
A lot of things can be running in everyones head and it’s always better to proactively check if things are fine. No negotiation is worth it after an employee makes another job offer. This is where I believe a manager’s role is crucial. Everyone is different and everyone’s expectations change over time. It is important to understand what an individual’s top expectations/goals are which if fulfilled will keep her/him satisfied and stay longer. Never assume things are going well. Always question. Build meaningful conversations and build on solutions together. When people understand their needs are heard and cared about, they are always ready to give the time/efforts it takes to fulfil them.
What can employees do? — Choose company mindfully
Every company’s culture, vision and ethics are different. Some companies throw money and expect 24X7 in return, some put their employees happiness first, some put their customers happiness first, some want to deliver something but don’t care about craftsmanship and so on.
The first step is to understand what we look for and then based on our expectations, we must mindfully choose the company we want to be at. This will make it easy for everyone involved and create less chaos in future.
Change is costly for everyone. Be it the company or the employee.
PS: Views expressed here are based on my own observations and not backed up by any study or research. I write stories on what I observe :)
