Why are they leaving?

Does it feel like all you are doing is hiring and training people for them to leave you fairly quickly? It can be one of the most frustrating aspects of having to manage/lead people – turnover. Turnover can you feel like your business or department is a revolving door for people to come and go. Not to mention the cost to the business. Did you know it can cost you approximately 3x a person’s salary to replace them? That includes your time for interviewing and training as well as the cost to place an ad and possibly for a recruiter.Not to mention the perception from your clients/customers for always dealing with someone new. Turnover is not to be taken lightly.

When was the last time you thought about why that may be happening?

Our initial reaction when someone leaves is to quickly fill the position with the next person as the work needs to get done.  If this is happening to you, take a step back and look at why.  One of the easiest ways to determine this is to ask people why they are leaving.  The catch is that may not always be honest in their answer, either because they don’t like confrontation or they don’t want to hurt your feeling or be perceived as negative.

Here are three common reasons why people leave…are any of these happening to you?

The explanation of the job doesn’t equal the reality of the job.  Let’s face it, when we are in hiring mode we want to paint a beautiful picture of the position to entice a candidate. This is gauranteed to backfire. You would be surprised at what people can handle if they know about it upfront.  My preferred way is to give people the good, bad and the ugly of the job.  The ugly should be things that may happen although rarely. They will appreciate your candor and won’t feel like they have been “lied to”. When the job doesn’t match what they have told, they loose trust in you and the company – then they leave (after all, what else have you not told them?)

Warm Bodies.  This is the case of hiring someone, anyone to fill a position. A warm body to sit in a chair and attempt to the work.  There are many reasons this doesn’t work and frankly, it can damage the other people working with you. They would prefer to have the extra work because no one is in the position than doing the extra work because the person in the position is incapable.

Leadership.  This is the hardest reason for people to accept as it’s about them.  The other two you can be fixed once you understand what is happening. Leadership sits squarely on your shoulders and as such can be harder to turn around. At it’s simplest core, leadership is about how you interact with the people who work with and for you. If you are abrasive, a micro-manager, or controlling it will be difficult for people to keep working with you. People want a sense of purpose, direction and autonomy. If they don’t find it with you, they will find it elsewhere.

Do you have high turnover and unsure how to correct? Let’s talk.

How have you solved your high turnover issues?