Why Cant I Keep My Employees?

There is a constant battle between employers believing that employees jump jobs too often and employees feeling that employers don’t take care of them. Employees consistently feel that they should be paid more and employers consistently feel that their employees should produce more. After reading quite a few articles on why employees quit, the most common reasons were:

-       Low pay

-       No opportunities

-       Office politics

-       Micro managers

-       Poor leadership

-       Lack of autonomy

-       Toxic work environments

-       No work-life balance

-       Not feeling appreciated.

In looking at this list one thing became clear: Low pay is the only objective response that can be measured. All the other top reasons for leaving are subjective to the individual, meaning that most often employees are leaving due to some misunderstanding or an inability to address an issue professionally with a superior or co-worker. Office politics that frustrate person A may encourage person B. Now, I’m not advocating for politics in the office, but when examining these issues, a catalyst for why they are allowed to fester and go unaddressed may be something as simple as communication. Diversity is a good thing and companies continue to become more and more diverse. With individuals coming from dramatically different backgrounds it is impossible to attempt to meet all their needs and expectations. This will lead to frustration and ultimately to employees departing for greener pastures. So, as leaders, how do you address this?

I became an Authorized Partner with DiSC to work on this exact issue. I’ve been in Talent Consulting for over a decade and I’ve seen how a lack of communication or a simple misunderstanding can turn molehills into mountains. DiSC is not like other surveys that attempt to put a person in a box by clearly spelling out their strengths and weaknesses and defining their potential for success after just a 45 minute session of answering multiple-choice questions. DiSC looks at tendencies and how those tendencies can impact your own performance as well as your co-workers. A sales rep who gets excited and interrupts an engineer who just spent 9 months developing a new product can cause ripples. Not because of any malice or ill-intention, just because of tendencies. The better we understand those tendencies, the better we communicate with each other, the better we set expectations, and the better we respond to altercations. If you are interested in learning more, click here.