Top 5 Reasons Employees Leave and Stay

September 17, 2012

  • September 17, 2012 at 2:46 pm
    MadDog says:
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    As the economy continues to improves, employers will see more and more employees leaving for lack of increased compensation. At that time, an offer to stay with a big increase will be too little too late. Looking forward to that day.

    • September 17, 2012 at 3:09 pm
      Sarah says:
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      Mad Dog,
      You seem like the kind of guy your employer should fire. But because he is committed to keeping as many people on the payroll and off of unemployment your still have a job. Your boss will probably not make that offer to you of a big increase. He probably will not have to replace you at all and is looking forward to the day that you might come into his office with your resignation.

      • September 17, 2012 at 3:13 pm
        Jon says:
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        Or, perhaps MadDog is just one of the many corporate employees who are getting crapped on by employers who slash benefits, raises, and opportunities because the current job market allows them the freedom to do so.

        But way to make a snap judgment about someone’s caliber and work ethic based on a couple sentences. You must be a manager.

      • September 17, 2012 at 4:58 pm
        Chavez says:
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        Sarah,
        You seem like the kind of employer who believes you are doing employees a favor by having them work for you. Unfortunately, here’s a crash course in labor economics: Wages and Benefits are given in exchange for the work done in the course of employment. No room for emotional servitude – although it seems this is what you expect.

        I hate to break your rose-colored vision, but most employers do not get into business to provide jobs – its a neccessary ingredient to profit. And when one threatens the other, I think we all know what wins. (That is not to say those special companies that are true community members don’t exist, they are simply rare)

      • September 18, 2012 at 1:38 pm
        Captain Planet says:
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        Gosh, Sarah, do you even know this person? “Type of guy your employer should fire”? Really? Quit bowing to the corporate master. All he is saying is he is looking forward to the days when raises are more compensable and in line with cost of living. At least, that is my take. And, he’s absolutely right. When at my previous employer, I saw benefits reduced, pension taken away, rising healthcare costs, and roughly a 2% increase at review time. Meanwhile, the company was making record profits, increasing rates on our insureds, and building mountains of surplus. Then, when an employee would leave for whatever reason, we didn’t hire someone else, we shared that person’s duties with wonderful programs like mandatory overtime. Simply not right!

        • September 18, 2012 at 1:40 pm
          Captain Planet says:
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          Oh, and almost forgot to mention. I am and was an exempt employee, so no additional forutne comes from those mandatory overtime hours.

    • September 17, 2012 at 3:39 pm
      wvagt says:
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      And just what’s your projected timetable for this massive improvement in the economy? I fear the days of companies competing with money for talented, experienced employees are past. Most employees are so grateful to have a job right now, any job, that they won’t even consider leaving because increases aren’t big enough.

      • September 17, 2012 at 4:09 pm
        Jon says:
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        You can really make a comparison to the home buyer’s market.

        Right now, in this economy, we’re in an employer’s market. They get all the real choices. In the past (which will at *some* point turn around again–I mean, we came through the Great Depression, we can get through this) the employee’s market meant that the companies were willing to go extra to retain, and hire, talent.

        Of course, who knows how long we’ll be stuck right where we are…

  • September 18, 2012 at 10:20 am
    Tony Baloney says:
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    Someone needed to do a study to learn these things? I understand the rankings come out of the survey. But I would guess that another survey will show two similar lists of the same five items, but ranked slightly differently.

    The buyers market favoring employers will swing in the other direction once the economy improves, which may occur in January, 2013. Successful, smart companies will have a plan in place to steal the best employees at that time through economic incentives and respect & fair treatment. The ‘respect’ aspect of that plan needs to be demonstrated starting now because any company can waive money in front of candidates at that time. But they can’t change their reputations as employers.

  • September 18, 2012 at 1:31 pm
    Its all risk management... says:
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    Employers that have a desire to have good PR had better learn to play nice in the sandbox with their talent (productive employees). Granted some employers have no need for good PR.
    The internet and social media can destroy your reputation in a heartbeat. I have worked for large and small, Fortunes best to work for and if they ever would publish one, Fortunes Worst to work for. I now work for a small practice and am largely left to myself to perform and get paid for it.
    My last employer has a reputation of purchasing smaller shops, and then rely on 25%-35% attrition and signing a 2 year contract with the owner who sold. They pride themselves on being a great employer and taking care of their people. The results… the attrition in the first year comes from the best talent in the pool. Top sales people, CSR’s that are the best at following and have a high degree of organization and efficiency.
    Now they are having a challenging time acquiring new brokers and question why? There they sit in the board room with the pink elephant wondering why their top talent is leaving (and the clients they serve too) and having a difficult time purchasing new accounts and have a customer attrition rate of greater than 10%.
    So they will spend all kinds of money on a consultant (money they could have used for retention) to tell them what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.
    Good riddance!!!!

  • September 18, 2012 at 3:45 pm
    MadDog says:
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    Dear IARM: I’ll bet conservative Sarah won’t like your comment either. To be clear, I love my job. I haven’t had a raise in five years, but I know it’s coming and I have the best boss in the world. That, in itself, is worth a lot. Other talented insurance professionals, who have been taken advantage of or ignored during this recession, are going to have their day. That’s what I’m looking forward to.

  • September 24, 2012 at 10:43 am
    Libby says:
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    There are many ways to “compensate” an employee. A pat on the back, an extra day off, a small gift. These cost the employer next to nothing, yet they are rarely used these days. I think managers are just as frustrated with upper management and it shows in how they treat their staff.

    • September 24, 2012 at 2:13 pm
      wvagt says:
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      Libby – you’re right, these are alternate types of compensation, but when gas is over $4.00 a gallon and the threat of higher taxes is hanging over everyone’s head they aren’t very satisfying.
      I had a manager very early in my career who would give “psychological raises” in lieu of the real thing – a promotion to “senior” underwriter or “executive” sales manager, for example. Those are OK but you can’t use them at the grocery store.

      • September 24, 2012 at 3:45 pm
        Libby says:
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        No, but I’d rather have a day off than nothing if that’s what they can give. My point was rather there are things they can do when the budget is tight. They just choose not to…

  • September 24, 2012 at 3:10 pm
    John Scrader says:
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    I’ve been in the insurance industry for 22 years. I’ve worked for 3 of the top ten insurance brokerages in the country. I experienced all of the above reasons for leaving employers. Personally i grabbed the bull by the horns and started my own agency. This gave me the freedom to run my business the way i wanted it run. The only corporate BS i have to put up with now is with myself.

  • September 24, 2012 at 3:22 pm
    Libby says:
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    Yeah, I thought of opening my own business but know I’d still hate my boss!

  • September 24, 2012 at 5:40 pm
    Rachel Miller says:
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    Throwing money at someone is the worst way to get them to stay. Invest in their future, and the future of your business, by paying for education, on the job training, and generous 401K packages. Employees care more about their future than short-term monetary wins.

  • September 24, 2012 at 9:01 pm
    Dave Seibert says:
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    I think it is particularly challenging for companies to retain their best talent long term. The best employees are recruited by the best companies. The more successful you are at your job the more offers you will receive from competitors. I agree with the comment that you cant throw money at people as a primary retention strategy. I believe you have to listen to your employees and provide a clear opportunity for advancement. I believe far too many companies invest too significantly in recruiting and not maximizing the opportunity of their current workforce. Over the course of my career I have known far too many people that have the skill set to do more but are never given the opportunity. Furthermore, I believe if someone tells you work ethic and motivation is dictated by their compensation then they don’t have it!

    • September 25, 2012 at 9:20 am
      Libby says:
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      I wish you were my boss, Dave Seibert!

  • September 27, 2012 at 10:26 am
    DesignsbySuzan says:
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    Finding creative ways to keep employee’s energized is very important key in retaining them.

    When employees are bored, they look to their managers to help them stay motivated. For me, new projects and little job tasks that are off the normal beaten path refreshes me.

    As well as encouragement 5 times greater than the times mistakes are hightlighted provides the feeling of being appreciation. Such as simple thing, I don’t see done nearly enough and it’s not tied to money or budget restraints!

  • May 5, 2016 at 5:06 am
    Angelo Kit says:
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    Career progress really plays a huge role for employee retention. I think increasing an employees compensation is only effective for a short period of time but not beneficial in the long run as the employee will continuously seek advancement in his/her career.

    To add to this, I think this article could also give some reasons and explanation why employees leave.



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