Do you know if anyone in your team is thinking of resigning? Do you know why they might be thinking of resigning?
By the time a member of your team has handed in their notice, they’ve likely already been working below par for 6 months. During this time they would have been making their decision and finding another role.
The notice period and getting a new employee up to speed takes up a lot of time. It can be 12 months of lost opportunity surrounding a single resignation in your team. This is why it’s so important to understand why your employees might resign.
A recent survey found that 38% of respondents planned to quit their job in the next six months to a year. This shift is due to the pandemic making people question their priorities.
Right now, more and more people are setting off to pursue their dream jobs. Some are quitting working life altogether to spend more time with their families. In fact, a whopping 50% of employees say that they’d sacrifice their salary for a job they enjoyed better. Times are changing!
Here are the top 5 reasons why your team might be thinking of resigning:
1. They have more choice
UK job vacancies are at a record high with approximately 1 million fewer people in the labour market. In 2021, Covid19 forced many to change careers. Technology accelerated a ‘work anywhere’ mentality. Simply put, it’s a candidate’s market place at the moment.
The average cost of salaries is creeping up. figures from HMRC state: 'the number of employees on UK company payrolls rose by 184,000 in the month to 29.5 million'. Polls suggest that most people aspire to earn £44,500-£58,500 per annum to eradicate money worries.
This means that employees might seek higher pay to take care of their money worries, moving more often between employers to achieve their financial goals. The increase of job vacancies makes this easier for the employee, and in turn, more concerning for the employer.
2. More flexible options
Covid19 has caused technology to rise to the aid of the workforce. Working from home has become increasingly common. Digital.com surveyed 1,000 remote workers to find out what’s keeping them tied to their work-from-home lives. The findings include:
- 72% want to be able to take a nap or exercise during the day
- 73% want to be able to watch TV while they work
- 14% will not go back to the office, even if required by their employer
Along with this, 75% of remote workers want to stay home with their pets. A total of 3.2 million households in the UK have acquired a pet since the start of the pandemic, according to the Pet Food Manufacturers' Association. A whopping 74% said their pet had helped their mental health while they were coping with the struggles of the pandemic.
The need for a flexible schedule has caused an increase in the want for remote working. Employees want to take breaks when needed and to look after pets during work hours. Is it possible for your employees to work from home? If so, it might be worth looking into.
3. Poor leadership
As true today as it has ever been; is the saying that employees don’t leave their employer, they leave their manager. The people who have the biggest impact on how it feels to work in an organisation are your leaders. They set the tone and shape the culture more than anyone else in a business. In its studies on employee turnover, Gallup found that the reasons people quit jobs are often due to their managers. It found that at least 75% of voluntary turnover is because of factors such as:
- A lack of opportunity for career progression
- Poor fit to the role
- Flexibility and scheduling
- The environment or management
Some types of leadership that might ‘persuade’ talented employees to quit their jobs:
- managers who don’t offer feedback
- managers who don’t know their employees’ strengths
- managers who micro-manage
- managers who encourage a toxic workplace
- managers who are bad at managing.
Making sure that your leaders are engaged with their teams ensures that your business’ culture is a healthy one. You can build a stronger leadership team with employee feedback. It’s a great way of targeting what support your leaders might need. Any teams that might be at risk if they haven’t got strong leadership can be identified as well.
4. Burnout
If HR leaders had to choose one word to define their focus over the last year, “wellbeing” would rank near the top.
Employee well-being is now a critical issue, and it’s a major factor driving the Great Resignation. In an era of record quit rates and reshuffling of jobs, how employees feel about their working lives has never been more openly discussed. The 2021 Mental Health At Work Report, found that 84% of employees reported at least one workplace factor negatively impacts their mental health.
In fact, study respondents who felt supported by their employer with their mental health were 2.5 times more likely to intend to stay at their company for two years or longer, compared to those who didn’t feel supported.
This isn’t all due to the company. Many employees are still feeling the effects of the pandemic in 2022. Let 2022 be the year you consider what you can do to improve happiness in the workplace. This will help to prevent Covid fatigue (and the mental health issues it amplifies) becoming the next pandemic.
5. Career development
If employees can’t see a clear path of development in their career - they’ll go somewhere they can. Employers need to show that they can provide their team with meaningful development opportunities.
By asking employees how they feel about their career development, organisations can create meaningful opportunities. This helps employees recognise that their employer is serious about their development. If they can see this, employees won't find the need to look elsewhere.
We know that many leaders are living in fear of the next resignation from their team. It’s no longer enough to sit back and hope. It’s important that leaders are proactive with how they manage retention in their teams. It helps them to understand risks and prevent the worst from happening.
At Space HR we can help you understand engagement levels in your team and capture individual feedback that helps you strengthen your team, reduce attrition and prevent surprises! www.spacehr.co.uk
