The Workplace Coach

We often hear that “people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers.”  I feel like this puts a lot of pressure and blame on managers, and that it might just be a little unfair.  Of course, I’m all for managers getting better at their craft and potentially improving retention rates but I do wonder if we might be better served looking at what the data says about why people leave their jobs. 

A Gallup poll suggests that in 2024, around 51% of employees (in the USA) are actively seeking new employment.  I guess the message here for managers is that if you know that half of your team are actively looking, then you might want to start being a little proactive or innovative about helping people decide to stay.  The data also shows that as few as 25% of employees would recommend their own organisation as a great place to work. That’s sobering isn’t it?

Okay so what are the things that your employees are looking elsewhere for that they might not be getting in their current role? 

Again, according to the data, the top four reasons people are leaving their jobs are Engagement and Culture (41%), Wellbeing and Work-Life Balance (28%), Pay and Benefits (16%) and Managers and Leaders (12%).  I have to admit that managers and leaders at just 12% surprised me but Gallup use one of the biggest employer/employee data sets in the world, so I’m going to have to accept that they probably have it right. 

If we can accept that the top two, being Engagement and Culture and Wellbeing and Work-Life Balance, account for 69% of why people leave then we should probably dig a little deeper into what these are all about.  The following list breaks it all down into the 16 subcategories of why people leave their jobs:

1. Need more of a challenge
2. Looking for a higher salary
3. Feeling uninspired
4. Wanting to feel valued
5. Seeking a better management relationship
6. Searching for job growth and career advancement
7. Needing more feedback or structure
8. Wanting a different work environment
9. Looking to live somewhere else
10. Feeling conflicted about workplace policies
11. Feeling that the job has changed over time
12. Wanting a clearer company vision
13. Needing a better work-life balance
14. Seeking a more financially secure company
15. Wanting more independence or autonomy
16. Looking for more recognition

You will note that “a better management relationship” is only mentioned once at item 5 and the rest of the items are largely to do with how the work, the environment, the culture is making the employee feel. Here is where I want to close the loop on this.

“How management chooses to treat its people impacts everything – for better or for worse.” – Simon Sinek

What is the single biggest influence on how a person feels in their work?  

It’s the manager.

Of the 16 items listed above, a great manager who is able to develop solid relationships with their employees through regular catch ups (go for once a week) and keystone conversations will have a very clear understanding of how the employee is feeling about all of them.  If the relationship isn’t there then the manager will never know how the employee is feeling. 

So, if we accept then that it is the manager who is best placed to change things up for the employee, to improve engagement and how they feel about coming to work every day, then a key skill for every manager is going to be “building the relationship”.   

This is a big part of what we do here at The Workplace Coach. We help managers be great at building the relationships that will allow them to develop an amazing team of highly engaged, high performing employees who aren’t looking to find another job…  because they love the one they have.