Why Record Numbers Of Employees Are Quitting Their Jobs In 2021?

There will inevitably be a point in your professional life when you wish to move on. It depends on the circumstances of your work and your personal life why you came to this decision. Many workers quit their jobs each year for various reasons. Often, they relocate to another country with their spouses or partners, spend time with their children, take on a new career, advance in their careers, and pursue education. 

Employers have a tough time dealing with these reasons because life events in the employees' personal life affect their work performance. To avoid such situations and to retain employees, employers must understand their reasons for leaving. 

However, the majority of reasons why employees resign their jobs are in the hands of their company. This could be due to an irresponsible manager, unreliable co-workers, and unethical business practices. Undoubtedly, Covid-19 has created a global crisis that has changed every aspect of the workplace in 2020 and 2021. The elements like company policies, benefits, and cultures of many companies have not kept up with the changing needs of their workforce and could have affected them. Employers need to determine the root cause of resignation when it comes to retaining employees. 

Throughout this article, we will explore the top reasons for employee turnover and how companies can avoid them for better employee retention and a more positive work environment. 

Before we jump into the reasons, let’s discuss why it is crucial for employers to determine the reasons why their employees quit. 

Employees are the most valuable assets of most companies. It's essential to know your employees well so you can keep them happy, engaged, and able to fulfill their full potential. As employees become more engaged, they will spend more time and energy on their work, leading to higher quality work. Employee engagement benefits organizations in enhancing business productivity and work quality and retaining key employees. 

Thus, it is crucial for the employers to understand why employees leave since a high turnover rate could indicate low employee satisfaction. Employers would benefit from finding ways to keep their existing employees in the company rather than hiring new ones to fill these vacancies. Employers should direct their efforts to resolve these issues and make their workplaces more comfortable to prevent employee turnover. 

According to the Talent Retention report conducted by iHire in 2020, around 51% of employees in the USA quit their jobs in the last year. Another finding of the study was that around 30 % of workforces were dissatisfied with their jobs, up significantly from 7.4 %. 

Top Reasons Why Employees Quit their Jobs

Let’s talk about the most common reasons why employees leave their jobs and organizations. 

1. An inflexible schedule
   
   Managers and employers often forget that employees have lives outside of the workplace and fail to offer or encourage a flexible schedule. Having a tough, 5-6 days, 40-48-hour working week leaves little time for performing external business tasks. An essential element of job fulfillment is the realization that you are doing meaningful work. Employee unhappiness tends to translate into retention issues for businesses.
   
   When employees work from remote locations, they often have a flexible schedule to start and end their days at any time, so long as they accomplish their tasks. When it comes to attending to your personal life needs, this control over your work schedule can be invaluable.
   
   
2. A Bad Boss and Bad Management
   
   Any employee who has had to deal with a problematic boss knows that bad managers can negatively impact employee retention. Infact, they are the leading cause of employees quitting their jobs. It is no surprise that a boss is a critical aspect of an employee's daily life at work. Having a good rapport with your manager is more important than being friends with him. It can be highly uncomfortable for an employee if their boss and they don't get along, preventing them from being motivated and putting their best effort into the job.
   
   It is possible for employees to leave in frustration when needs are not met. There is a need to address managers that are too busy or distracted to listen to employee concerns.
   
   
3. Unchallenged and bored with their work
   
   A job must be enjoyable for employees. Boredom and a lack of challenge in the workplace are not desirable. After working at the same job for a while, employees know their tasks and responsibilities quite well. And they may feel like there's nothing more to learn in their current role.
   
   
4. The lack of upskilling opportunities for employees
   
   Employees always want to improve and develop their skills. Employers always expect to provide opportunities for employees to advance their careers or receive promotions through skill enhancement programs. When employees make excellent use of their considerable skills and abilities, they feel satisfied, successful, and have great self-esteem. Thus, it is important for employers to conduct training programs for their employees.
   
   
5. An unhostile work environment
   
   It is true that workplace environments vary from company to company. A workplace can be described as an organization's culture, whether casual, social, or professional. Undoubtedly, a work environment is where you should feel most comfortable. Employees are affected by your company's overall atmosphere and work culture, even if it doesn't rank among the top on employee surveys.
   
   Employees always value a workplace with smooth communication and collaboration, friendly management, an approachable and respectable team, and clear and easy-to-understand directions. Employees who are not treated with respect or received with value will be dissatisfied with the atmosphere and leave the organization.
   
   
6. Outdated work policies
   
   When employee concerns are not promptly addressed, they become unbearably frustrated. Thus, it is crucial for every organization to address employees' problems instantly and efficiently. It is also frustrating when the employee continually brings up the same issue that an updated policy can resolve.
   
   Policies that discuss the conduct of team members, manager-employee relationships, social networking in the workplace or the duration of time it takes to solve an issue are examples of this. Employees who feel their employers are using outdated policies or compliance and implementation processes can often consider applying elsewhere.
   
   
7. Uncompetitive pay and benefits
   
   Employees may not be able to work for non-competitive compensation. Benefits and salary packages must be competitive since turnover occurs when employees don't receive the recognition and benefits, they deserve. If it is a start-up and growing company, it may not offer highly competitive pay and benefits. There are always options for non-cash incentives and rewards using cost-effective reward and recognition programs in this situation.
   
   

What employers could do to prevent employee turnover?

Companies that realize the value of investing in their workforce will have a more productive, efficient, loyal workforce, less turnover, and more profitable. Even though reducing employee turnover is a crucial element of making a workplace culture enjoyable, it is impossible to eliminate it completely.

According to Microsoft Work Trend Index research, around 40% of employees plan to change their company in 2021. Similar to this, a study conducted among employees in the U.K. and Ireland found that around 38% of employees plan to quit their existing job over the next few months. Thus, it is important for companies to come up with strategies that can prevent employee turnover.

Let’s talk about top five strategies for reducing employee turnover.

1. Proper interview to hire the right talent
   
   A spur-of-the-moment hiring decision is never the best one. Moreover, hiring a right-fit candidate is the best way to prevent employee turnover waves. The HR team is responsible for ensuring that only the right resources are screened for interviews, planning and preparing. The process begins with the interview. It is imperative to recruit the best candidate with the right skill set, qualifications, and attitude. Additionally, their personality and work style must align with your company's values. In the interview, it is crucial to explain to them what the company expects.
   
   
2. Effective employee onboarding experience
   
   A successful employee onboarding program can create a zone of mutual trust and respect. Providing a good onboarding experience to your employees will ease the transition into a new work culture and make them feel motivated from the very beginning. Employees who are adequately onboarded are more likely to remain with you for an extended period.
   
   Read More: How remote work is reshaping employee onboarding?
   
   
3. Utilize the workforce wisely
   
   There is no doubt that overusing employees can lead to high employee turnover. According to a study conducted by Deloitte, around 42 percent of workforces quit their jobs due to stress. On the other hand, underutilization can result in employee disengagement and lowered morale.
   
   Therefore, it is crucial to utilize employees' skills and knowledge to their maximum potential and retain them by utilizing them effectively.
   
   
4. Boost employee engagement and experience
   
   An HR manager must ensure that their employees feel like a part of the company as soon as they start working there. An employee should feel safe while he works from home or office. Having a specific project to work on increases employee motivation and satisfaction in the workplace. Besides this, an organization should always be open to conversations with all workforce. Promoting a workplace culture where employees feel valued and engaged is crucial for the growth of every business.
   
   
5. Make employee training a priority.
   
   Investing in employee training and development programs shows an organization's commitment to the professional growth of employees. Adequate training programs help employees to improve their performance and foster better workplace relationships.
   
   Training allows them to understand how valuable they are to the organization since they can become experts in various areas. In addition, they will also have the opportunity to explore other career opportunities within the organization.
   
   
6. Give regular feedback
   
   Giving employees helpful feedback regularly has proven to be an effective way of reducing churn. Providing feedback must identify successes as well as opportunities for improvement. Feedback is a powerful tool for motivating and efficiently addressing problems faced by employees. Employees gain a clearer understanding of their areas of improvement through this process.