Why employees resign

When the pandemic began, Melissa Villareal was teaching history to middle schoolers at a private school in a wealthy California neighborhood.

It was a job and a field she loved. People like Villareal are leaving their jobs — or thinking about it — in droves. In the US alone, April saw more than four million people quit their jobs , according to a summary from the Department of Labor — the biggest spike on record. But for many, many others, the decision to leave came as a result of the way their employer treated them during the pandemic.

That was the case for Villareal, who found herself back in the classroom after only a short closure. In the US, private schools, governed by different rules, were able to return to in-person learning much sooner than public schools. Villareal was uncomfortable about her safety, and saw her stress and workload spike when she was juggling both in-person and remote learners concurrently.

The pandemic ripped that veil from my eyes. Workers are opting to leave unsupportive employers and transition to jobs in which they feel like they have better resources and are more cared for Credit: Getty Images.

Workers who, pre-pandemic, may already been teetering on the edge of quitting companies with existing poor company culture saw themselves pushed to a breaking point. This drove out already disgruntled workers who survived the layoffs, but could plainly see they were working in unsupportive environments. And although workers have always cared about the environments in which they work, the pandemic added an entirely new dimension: an increased willingness to act, says Alison Omens, chief strategy officer of JUST Capital, the research firm that collected much of the data for the study.

Experts advise managers to study workers and ask themselves: Are they withdrawing from social activities? Calling in sick more than usual?

Performing the bare minimum to get by? You have to manage to each individual, and invest time into discovering what each member of a team needs both at work and outside of work to do their job to the best of their ability. Do your employees feel that they're all "in this together"? Do they feel their suggestions, concerns, and challenges are acknowledged and, when possible, acted on?

Do they feel valued? The best talent wants to work where they feel their work has a real impact. Although it may sound inconsequential, simply listening to employees' concerns and doing what you can to address those — or at least explaining why they can't be addressed at the present time — can go a long way toward keeping the best and brightest, HR professionals say.

Tom Gimbel, CEO and founder of LaSalle Network, a staffing firm, once saw an IT worker quit after his managers opted not to upgrade the security protocols he knew were needed. Skills that make an employee a great software developer, for example, are different from those required for management.

You need to provide training and guidance to help your managers lead and manage their teams. One of the main reasons top performers leave is because they feel their career advancement isn't going as planned. Your best individual contributors aren't always going to want to manage people. So you need to build a nonmanagerial career path for them or they will find another organization that does. Most IT employees want to work on emerging technologies and explore new tech toys.

Which gets you what you want and need for success? Provide a lot of genuine appreciation and recognition as icing on the cake for your employee retention efforts. But, pay attention to the more significant factors, the cake, if you wish to retain your best employees.

Make recognition the way you live in your organization to keep your best talent. If you pay attention to these ten factors, you will reduce turnover and retain your most wanted employees. Why not expend the effort necessary to retain the employees that you have already painfully recruited and hired? Gallup: Workplace. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content.

Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Human Resources Hiring Best Practices. Table of Contents Expand. Table of Contents. How to Retain Your Best Employees? Relationship With the Boss.

Bored and Unchallenged by the Work Itself. Relationships With Coworkers. Opportunities to Use Their Skills. Contribution of Their Work. Autonomy and Independence on the Job. Meaningfulness of the Employee's Job. Overall Corporate Culture. Management Recognition of Employees. By Susan M. Learn about our editorial policies.

Updated on February 24, The Bottom Line If you pay attention to these ten factors, you will reduce turnover and retain your most wanted employees. Article Sources.