HR professionals and managers know that employees leave their jobs for numerous reasons. Sometimes big life changes, like moving to a different city, getting into a new field, or staying home with the family, make it impossible for the employee to stay even if they love their job. These situations are unavoidable. But have you noticed that your best employees seem to be handing in their notices a lot more frequently? Here are some ideas gathered over time through numerous studies that managers and HR professionals need to pay attention to to keep those star employees around.
While many people still imagine companies and businesses operating on the ideas of the high level executives, more and more HR professionals and managers are realizing that employees have great ideas too. If you’re not regularly asking for input from employees, they may start looking for other organizations that will hear out and respect their ideas. Your best employees will tire quickly of feeling like just another cog in the machine. Encourage employees to come to their managers and HR professionals with ideas for projects and events, or suggestions for how to streamline and improve day to day functions. And yes, you should ask them for constructive criticism on the performance of the workplace leaders too. Employees want to know that they matter to you.
Your star employees may also be jumping ship because you’re giving them more responsibility without increasing their pay or promoting them. This doesn’t mean that managers and HR professionals need to dole out raises and promotions whenever you ask an employee to do something extra every once in a while. But if you’re adding a new duty or task to their role that will be a permanent responsibility, HR professionals and managers will want to find a way to compensate the employee with increased pay or some sort of promotion. No one wants to get saddled with extra work and not get anything for it. That’s not fair, and your best employees won’t put up with it for long. Before you know it they’ll be looking for a new workplace where they will be appreciated and where their compensation will reflect that appreciation.
Similarly, high quality employees do not enjoy when managers and HR professionals change their job role and duties without discussing it with them first. This is essentially taking the employee’s choice and voice away from them. They took their job in the first place because they expected to be doing certain tasks. If you just change those tasks and simply tell them this is what they’ll be doing now, your star employees will feel like they can’t trust you to respect their time or have their best interest in mind. The fix is easy. All HR professionals and managers need to do is come to the employee and let them know what you’re thinking of changing and discuss it together.
At the end of the day, star employees value respect. If your best players keep quitting, stop and think about what you can do to be more respectful of your employees.