Your employees are just NOT that into you…

Ever seen that movie He’s Just Not That Into You? It was one of the first major ensemble movies and featured some BIG stars and some memorable lines. I saw it in movie theaters.

I may or may not have uttered the phrase “you’re not the exception, you’re the rule” a dozen times while giving (really bad) dating advice.

You may be wondering why I’m referencing this somewhat terrible rom com from 2009?

Well, it’s because I have some news for you…

Your employees just aren’t that into you.

GASP! Mic drop!!! Did you see what I did there??

Let’s look at the data:

1 in 2 employees is open to leaving their organization
48% of employees indicated they are watching or actively searching for a new role

Woof.

TBH: I’ve never worked with a leadership team that didn’t worry about talented employees leaving.

Me? I don’t worry much because I know departures are natural!

But, that doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about how that departure will impact the organization.

Why??

Because employees leaving:

Is costly. It’s estimated to cost 2X-3X of the departing employee’s salary to replace them.
Can damage productivity & morale. It’s hard to watch folks go and not wonder, is there a problem?
Is disruptive. When someone departs usually there’s a gap that needs to be filled and some may have to fill in until a replacement starts.
Impacts culture. Frequent turnover absolutely impacts culture and creates feelings of uncertainty and insecurity. On the flipside, when a jerk employee quits or is asked to leave, it’s usually good for the culture!

And while some say “The Great Resignation” (ugh) is over there that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be thinking about how to retain our talent!

This quarter I’m diving into 3 major reasons why employees leave:

Lack of growth opportunities
Compensation concerns
Toxic environments

Let’s look at each!

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#1: Lack of growth opportunities:

What’s the phrase- if you’re not growing you’re dying. Or something like that…

Your employees want growth opportunities, they NEED growth opportunities.

But what does growth actually mean???

Is it:

Growth in skills
Learning new skills
A promotion with an expansion of scope and responsibilities
More money

Or could it be all of the above?

This quarter I’ll tackle what makes growth at work tricky, what to do if there is no next step and why it feels like we’re always doing more than we were hired to do.

#2: Compensation

“Goin’ so hard, gotta choose myself. Overworked and overwhelmed” – Beyoncé and your employees.

Compensation concerns are a tale as old as time.

TBH: Everyone thinks they are underpaid.

I’ve found that most employees are not informed about how compensation decisions are made and what factors go into compensation and come to that conclusion of being underpaid.

And, yes some are actually underpaid but there’s also a lack of transparency about compensation.

This quarter I’ll tackle how to handle compensation when it comes to retention, what HR teams need to know, and how to do comp right.

Sometimes you really shouldn’t match that competing offer…

To get you started, my podcast 2-part season finale covered pay transparency and was full of juicy details.

Additional Listening:

Talk Pay to Me with Hannah Williams
Demystifying Pay Transparency with Lulu Seikaly

#3: Environment

Ugh toxic work environments are another tale as old time.

I’ve experienced my fair share of bad environments as well as heard dozens of stories about toxic workplaces and their impact.

Maybe, it’s time to change that??

If you’re dealing with a toxic environment and wondering how the heck do I fix this?

This quarter I’ll get into why wellbeing is more important than ever, what benefits your employees actually want, and how to build the best dang workplaces out there.

Additional reading: