A recent article by Forbes.com contributor Alan Hall has made an alarming discovery. Every month, somewhere on the order of 2 million people quit their jobs despite the fact that we are still in the grips of a recession that has our economy currently at 7.8% unemployment.
Hall cites as a primary reason for such a high number a recent survey by Harris Online that shows 74% or workers are considering finding a new job while Mercer's 'What's Working' study has found that 34% of people are actively looking for a new position. So what are the primary reasons for all of this discontentment in the workplace?
"Corporate employees are looking for a better working environment. Is this alarming? It should be to managers who need a talented team to accomplish corporate goals. The answer to employees saying, 'I'm outta here!' is for management to thoughtfully and sincerely establish an employee-focused culture," Hall states at the beginning of his article.
Another study by Accenture shows that the top four reasons for frustration in the work place are a lack of empowerment, internal politics, lack of recognition, and a good ole' fashioned dislike of the boss.
Alan Hall recently sat down for an interview with Forbes and noted that employee retention should be one of the top concerns for any company. He believes that far too often the people with power in a given company are more concerned with the bottom line than with the employees who are dealing with customers and running the day-to-day operations of the company. When importance shifts away from those individuals, he claims, businesses will suffer.
"Employees thrive when they are given a sense of ownership to accomplish their work with fewer approvals and checkpoints, and with a smaller degree of intervention and oversight. Company leadership and workers both succeed when employees are allowed to own and solve problems in an innovative way. Giving someone the opportunity to "break the mold" and create new ways to address a challenge is highly fulfilling," points out Hall.
This is especially interesting considering a statistic that he referenced in his interview. Currently, 25% of people are considering quitting their job so that they can start up their own business. It is possible that a large reason for that is the lack of creative control they are given at work. He notes that many people simply want to start their own business so that they can form their own culture and way of doing things. If companies are able to fulfill that need by relegating more tasks to the discretion of their employees, chances are high that they would have a higher retention rate and happier coworkers. And as everyone knows, a happy employee is a productive employee.
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