Top Reasons for Leaving a Job – Why Good Employees Quit

Finding a highly skilled, hardworking and consistent employee to join your team can be a difficult task.  Some companies find it just as challenging to decrease turnover rates of their best employees.

The reason an employee chooses to resign can vary widely.  Some get married and move to another state. Others decide to start their own business.  They might have a baby and decide to stay home or even win the lottery. Those are all based on circumstances that have more to do with their personal lives and less to do with the decisions made by their managers.  

The other reasons good employees quit their jobs are often directly related to their employer.  Poor management, lack of advancement opportunities, and the inability to maintain a work/life balance are some of the reasons given by good employees who choose to quit their jobs.

When you are dedicated to keeping the employees you manage satisfied and employed with your company, you must first develop a firm understanding of the top reasons why good employees leave their jobs.

Poor Management

Wendy Durante Duckrey, Vice President of recruiting at JPMorgan, is famously quoted as saying,  “most people don’t quit their jobs; they quit their boss.”

It is also one of the top reasons good employees give for leaving a job.

When an employee feels supported, encouraged, and motivated by their superior, they will work harder for them, and remain more dedicated to their position.

If they feel their needs are not being met and their concerns are not being addressed, they are less likely to remain with the company, not due to the job itself, but due to management issues.

Unfortunately, there appears to be a lack of proper training for many who enter into managerial positions.  It involves more than paperwork and tracking metrics. Managers must have strong people skills and the ability to develop relationships with those who work under them.

Otherwise, employers who struggle to manage their employees will continue to face the harsh reality that goes along with high turnover rates.

Feeling Undervalued

There’s nothing worse than going to work every day, doing your job to the best of your ability, being expected to go above and beyond your required tasks, and feeling underappreciated and undervalued by those at your job.

It is one of the fastest ways to decrease employee engagement and to lose a good employee.

You can make your employees feel valued in many ways including:

• Acknowledging their hard work publicly
• Providing them with a physical token of appreciation
• Offering incentives such as a half day off after reaching a big goal
• Buying them lunch
• Giving them a card expressing your appreciation

The ways in which you can make your employees feel valued are endless and can fit any budget your company has.

While all employees should be made to feel appreciated, it’s especially important to do this for employees who are continually working hard and taking on additional responsibilities beyond what they’ve been hired to do.

Lack of Advancement Opportunities

Most employees want to feel challenged in their career.  Being in a job with no advancement opportunities, be it their position or a significant salary change, will often lead to the search for new employment, especially when they recognize their value as an employee.

It’s important to give employees an opportunity to stay with your company as they improve their skills and advance in their career.

You can do this by making new job opportunities known to employees within the company, so they have first dibs before bringing in outsiders.

Also, check in with your employees at minimum once per year to discuss their career goals.  This will allow you to gain an understanding of how your employees are feeling regarding their current position and hopes for the future.

Also, offering educational opportunities and tuition reimbursement opportunities can provide your employee with a reason to remain with your company while gaining skills that can lead to advancement in the future.

Feeling Overworked

Today more than ever, the desire to have a career that still allows for flexibility, time with family and friends, and a healthy personal life is at the top of many employees’ list.

When employees are overworked, it reduces their ability to maintain a healthy a work/life balance.

It’s often found that good employees who show their ability to handle their job and take on additional responsibilities find the weight of their department placed on their shoulders.  While it might be seen as a way to show your trust in the employee, it is actually a form of punishment. It shows that when an employee performs well, they are rewarded with additional work and no salary increase.

When you want to give an employee additional responsibilities, it should be a non-negotiable that a salary increase or position advancement comes along with those added responsibilities.

Keeping Good Employees

If your goal is to keep your good employees working with your company, it’s crucial that you stay abreast of their needs and wants career wise.  In most situations, a highly skilled employee will be able to find another position, so you must consider what you need to do to keep them with your company.

Understand that you are working with people. People who have families.  People who have personal lives. People with dreams, wishes, and goals. People with feelings.

When you keep that at the forefront of your mind, you will treat your employees like real people and your good employees will recognize your humanism and be more likely to stay around.

When you treat them like they’re disposable, they will dispose of their position and find another.

As you work to ensure your employees remain within your company, it’s also vital that you keep employee engagement high.  It is one of the key factors to maintaining low turnover rates within a company.

If you’re searching for a resource that will help you maintain a workforce that is highly engaged, download a free copy of my book, 5 Tips to Improve Employee Engagement which features best practices for getting your employees involved in your company’s success.

Cash Flow: The Life Line Keeping Your Business Afloat

When operating a business, the amount of money you make and spend, or cash flow is one of the major indicators of its ability to thrive or likelihood to struggle. This comes as no surprise.  We’ve all heard the saying that cash is king. That is especially true when running a company. Phillip Campbell, CPA, the former chief financial officer for multiple successful companies and a respected author was quoted as saying “Despite the fact that cash is the lifeblood of a business — the fuel that keeps the engine running — most business owners don’t truly have a handle on their cash flow.”  

If you’re a business owner, and you’re not aware of the amount of cash flowing in and out of your business on a regular basis, you’re setting yourself up for failure.  Below you will find vital cash flow related definitions, the benefits of knowing your cash flow, and 5 questions you can answer to ensure you know your business cash flow.

Cash Flow Related Vocabulary Defined

Profit

According to Investopedia.com, “Profit is a financial benefit that is realized when the amount of revenue gained from a business activity exceeds the expenses, costs and taxes needed to sustain the activity…”

Simply put, profit is the amount of money you make in your business minus the expenses.  It is how much money that remains once all of your bills are paid.

Your goal is to have a hefty profit, that’s the only way you make money.  Too often business owners confuse profit with our next term, cash flow.

Cash Flow

Also according to Investopedia.com, “Cash flow is the net amount of cash and cash-equivalents being transferred into and out of a business…”

Therefore, cash flow is not one number, it speaks to the overall flow of money in your business which paints a broader picture of your financial status.

A company can have a positive cash flow with no profit depending on the source of their funds.

For example, if a business takes out a business loan and sees an increase in cash flow that month, their actual profit might be zero because of their need to take out a loan.

A business can also be profitable and have no cash flow.

For example, if you contract with companies who delay their payment, you could have a cash flow of $40,000 with $10,000 that still hasn’t hit your bank account.  If your monthly expenses are $45,000, that means you are profitable, but your cash flow is not positive.

Revenue

According to BusinessDictionary.com, revenue is “the income generated from the sale of goods or services, or any other use of capital or assets, associated with the main operations of an organization before any costs or expenses are deducted.”  

Revenue is also known as sales.

Why Knowing Your Cash Flow is Important

Knowing the monthly cash flow of your business is vital for many reasons.  Here are 5 significant reasons why you should make knowing your cash flow a priority.

It Indicates Financial Health

Knowing your cash flow indicates the overall financial health of your business. It showcases your company’s ability to pay its bills and handle other financial responsibilities consistently.

Being unable to take care of your financial responsibilities, or having a lot of your revenue tied up in debt indicates that your financial health is failing.

It Indicates Your Ability to Generate Cash

Knowing how much money comes into your business every month and how much you have left at the end of the money after paying all expenses helps you to understand your ability to generate cash.

Keeping track of this consistently provides you with an overall cash flow projection which you can use to indicate your ability to cover expenses in the future.

It Highlights Your Debt

Because cash flow indicates where your money is going each month, the payments you make to your creditors are highlighted.  By bringing constant attention to these debts which are taking hold of your incoming cash flow, you can focus on paying them off.

It Gives You Flexibility

When your business has a positive monthly cash flow, it gives you flexibility.  

You can use your positive cash flow to invest more in your business and make choices that will lead to increased revenue.

When faced with a dilemma, you have the opportunity to make choices that will best fit your business because you have the cash available.

Questions to Answer About Your Cash Flow

When you’re working on improving the health of your business and thus your cash flow, you must know what to look for in the process.  As you review your cash flow, here are a few questions you should be able to answer.

• What’s the difference between profit and cash flow?
• Where does my cash go?
• Do I have hidden cash flow (ex. debt)
• How much cash does my business have?
• How much cash does my business need to operate?
• Where does my business get and spend cash?
• How do my income and expected income affect the amount of cash I need to expand my business?

Cash is king in business and knowing your cash flow will help monitor your financial health to keep your business afloat.  When you’re running a business, you get busy, but reminding yourself of why knowing your cash flow numbers is important can help you keep it at the top of your priority list.  

As you work towards becoming a cash flow king (or queen), remember you should always be able to answer the cash flow related questions listed above.   If you have the cash to keep your business afloat, you are more likely to stay in business as long as you keep the cash flowing. Keeping track of your cash flow is key to knowing your financial health and in indicating your future ability to remain in business.

Cash flow is just a part of running a successful business.  Ensuring all of your employees are engaged in the practices of your company is a necessary skill as well.  When you’re ready to make sure your employees are involved as you expand and grow, download my free book, 5 Tips to Improve Employee Engagement. Click here to get your copy today. C