Why good employees quit

There are many reasons why people quit: employee mismatch, work/life balance, co-worker conflicts, relocation, family matters, lack of good communication, micro-managers.

Leadership Consultant Mary Davids cites four top reasons why good employees leave the workplace, in a new LinkedIn post:

1. Poor reward system. Rewarding an employee can take many forms: corporate recognition both internally and externally, an additional paid mini-vacation, an opportunity to take the lead on a new project, a promotion, a donation in their name to a charity they support or an unexpected bonus. What money represents to one employee, however, may be of no concern to another. The key is to find out what your employees value most and work from there.

2. Management. When there is work to be done, it’s management’s duty to enforce, engage and implement reward systems to keep employees satisfied and loyal.

“Not everyone is skilled enough to manage processes or lead people,” Davids writes. “Just because someone is good at what they do does not mean they will be a great manager. When people who are not fit to lead are put into positions of leadership it can create a catastrophic circumstance in the workplace leading to high turnover and low employee morale.”

3. Hiring/promotions. Hiring and promoting for favoritism is a major way to alienate good workers.

“When good workers see people who do not contribute as much as they do or they see schmoozers who do little but socialize a lot land positions they don’t deserve, it’s much like a slap in the face,” she continues.

4. Too much work. Being an excellent worker can be a blessing and a curse.

“It’s great for a boss to recognize employees are good, but the reward for that shouldn’t always be to pour on the workload,” Davids writes. “Since good employees tend to have a higher workload, it’s important to ensure they don’t feel overwhelmed causing them to burn out.”

Read more on LinkedIn.