Why Employees Leave and How Managers Can Prevent It

One of the key roles of today’s manager is to develop and retain talent within their team, ensuring the organisation meets its growth objectives.

This isn’t an easy task, especially when considering the habits of the millennial workforce and the global skills shortage that McKinsey reported in 2012, which is still a major issue worldwide.

Why Do People Leave Organisations?

The evidence shows that the main reasons employees leave organisations fall into a small group of categories—most of which any company has the power to change.

Let’s start with the most common reasons people decide to leave.

The ‘Bad’ Manager

Fact: Employees leave their roles because of their managers more than for any other reason.

A survey conducted by Approved Index, a UK business purchasing conglomerate, confirmed that people tend to leave managers rather than organisations. In their survey of 1,374 employees, 42% said they had left a job because of a bad manager, and a further 30% said their line manager lacked essential skills. Similar figures were found in North America, where a Florida State University study by Professor Wayne Hochwarter revealed almost identical numbers.

Why Is This So Common?

In many organisations, managers are promoted without the necessary training, development, or support. Even when new managers are enthusiastic and proactive about their own development, reading voraciously around the subject, they often still struggle. Why? Because they haven’t yet learned how to manage people and teams in real-world scenarios.

The first real management challenge can leave them either crumbling or adopting a ‘my way or no way’ approach—neither of which is ideal!

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. Many growth-focused organisations have recognised this and prioritise management development to improve profits and boost their share price. Here’s a case study from one organisation that illustrates what’s possible when managers receive consistent support and training.

Lack of Empowerment

Closely following bad management is the lack of empowerment employees often feel.

Maxwell Maltz, the famous author of ground-breaking work on self-image, discovered that an innate drive in humans is the desire to succeed.

Empowering your team to make decisions and drive their own success is vital. Don’t just delegate responsibility—delegate the authority they need to make decisions. You can read more about this in our recent article on delegation. You’ll be surprised at how much more efficient and effective your team can be when they aren’t funnelling everything through you.

Start small, if necessary, and give people more authority as they prove their skills and earn your trust. The goal is for your team to move forward on their own, with minimal intervention from you.

Lack of Recognition

“Well done Amanda/John/Imran!” seems to be a phrase missing in many organisations, according to the data we’ve reviewed.

Recognition is crucial for all employees, with many using it to evaluate their skill level or position within the organisation. For those who are “externally referenced,” it’s even more important. On the other hand, people who are “internally referenced” seem more self-confident and rely less on external validation.

Let me explain.

Internally referenced people have their own sense of what’s right or wrong. They don’t really need others to tell them, and they may even forget to give recognition to others. But externally referenced people care a great deal about what their manager or team members think. They use this feedback as a benchmark for good performance and need recognition to feel valued.

Every organisation will have members from both these camps. The question is, do you have the skills to manage both effectively?

The Role of Recognition in Employee Retention

Lack of recognition plays a huge part in why people ultimately decide to leave. In some organisational cultures, performance is rewarded financially, which is great, but often it’s the simple “thank you” that employees are missing. When they don’t feel appreciated, they start feeling undervalued and eventually leave.

Interestingly, the three reasons mentioned—bad management, lack of empowerment, and lack of recognition—are all preventable when managers are trained in essential management skills and receive ongoing support.

Are you developing and supporting your managers consistently? If not, your employees might be leaving your organisation for these very reasons.