Our recent survey of over 700 Workers in Yorkshire has uncovered that poor management and lack of progression rank almost as highly as money when it comes to the question “why did you leave your last job”.
The results, which might come as a surprise to most companies, highlight the importance of factors other than money when it comes to keeping your best team together! As we have previously discovered through our national research, flexibility was a bigger pull factor for a job than money.
Now we also see that, whilst money remains the biggest “push” factor, lifestyle factors such as motivation, flexibility and progression are becoming a more significant part of the conversation.
Breaking the results down further, there were also interesting age and gender results which can be seen below. As you can see from these results, when it comes to jumping ship, there isn’t a great deal of difference between males and females. The two stand out results were (of those who gave that answer): Progression was a significantly higher reason for leaving a job for women than it was for men. Almost 3x more men left their jobs in search of better culture than women.
Amongst the youngest age groups lack of progression was their standout answer for leaving. As you would expect this drops off markedly when the age group exceeds 45.
Why Do These Results Matter?
Insight directly from our regions employees should not be ignored, and there is much we can glean from it. For example, it gives an excellent insight into the areas an employer needs to stay on top of in order to keep their best members of staff. We have given employee retention advice before, but let’s have a look at the important elements this research has uncovered.
How Can I Use Them For My Business?
It sounds simple, but keeping staff motivated is one of the most difficult things for a company to accomplish, but as this research suggests, it’s more important than ever before.
Progression
Looking at the factors, in turn, the first motivational factor is the lack of progression opportunities available.
It is human nature to strive towards goals, or at least know that there is a purpose to the work that you do. Whilst it may be unpractical to create progression opportunities in terms of the job title, employers can still work on progressing members of staff personally.
Setting targets for the personal development of staff (based on their own goals) and helping them advance their skillset is a fantastic way of providing motivation to staff, as found here in this article by Fast Company.
Above all, employees have to feel that they are working for a purpose. We have actually helped companies a lot with this, have a look here for more advice.
Research such as this is vital to employers, who are constantly looking at how to keep their best staff from walking out of the door and into the arms of their competitors.
Motivational Management
Maybe predictably, uninspiring management was the reason 14% of Yorkshire employees left their last job for pastures new.
Management can inspire and deflate in equal measure, and so it is vitally important that employers take care with their management decisions. Regular checkups on performance, and ensuring the managers themselves are motivated and incentivised can go a long way to making sure your team stays involved.
As discussed previously, having a clear route to progression is a huge motivator for employees, but aside from this management can also motivate staff by:
- Increasing the autonomy and responsibility staff have in the workplace.
- Leading by example.
- Providing perks/ benefits for being loyal and hitting targets.
- Improving communication with staff, listening to problems and actively work towards solutions.
Whatever your business, especially if you are in our wonderful county of Yorkshire, following these steps could help you to keep your team together and flourish. As always, we are here to help if you need us, just drop us a line on 0114 321 1873 and ask for Rob or visit our employee retention page here.