The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave

Most voluntary employee exits are for reasons companies could correct ahead of time. Leigh Branham identifies seven causes of turnover, ranging from unrealistic expectations to distrust. Creative solutions incorporate data from the internationally renowned Saratoga Institute.

Leigh Branham is the author of Keeping the People Who Keep You in Business and Founder/Principal of the consulting firm Keeping the People, Inc. (www.keepingthepeople.com). He is widely recognized as an authority on employee engagement and the best practices of organizations that continually boast exceptional retention. He lives in Overland Park, Kansas, and can be reached via email at LB@keepingthepeople.com.

Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Why Care About Why They Leave?	p. 1
Managers Will Not Hear What Workers Will Not Speak	p. 2
Turnover: Just a "Cost of Doing Business?"	p. 5
When the Tide Turns, Mindsets Must Change	p. 7
What About HR's Role in Exit Interviewing?	p. 8
How They Disengage and Quit	p. 11
The Disengagement Process	p. 11
The Deliberation Process	p. 15
Why They Leave: What the Research Reveals	p. 17
Why Employees Say They Leave	p. 20
What Caused Their Initial Dissatisfaction?	p. 24
A Few Words About Pay	p. 24
Respecting the Differences	p. 26
Who Has the Power to Meet These Needs?	p. 27
The Next Seven Chapters: Hidden Reasons and Practical Actions	p. 28
Reason #1: The Job or Workplace Was Not as Expected	p. 31
Hidden Mutual Expectations: The Psychological Contract	p. 34
How to Recognize the Warning Signs of Unmet Expectations	p. 37
Obstacles to Meeting Mutual Expectations	p. 38
Engagement Practices for Matching Mutual Expectations	p. 39
How Prospective Employees Can Do Their Part	p. 44
The Beginning or Ending of Trust	p. 45
Employer-of-Choice Engagement Practices Review and Checklist	p. 45
Reason #2: The Mismatch Between Job and Person	p. 47
What's Missing: A Passion for Matching	p. 49
Common Misconceptions and Truths About Talent	p. 50
Recognizing the Signs of Job-Person Mismatch	p. 52
Obstacles to Preventing and Correcting Job-Person Mismatch	p. 53
Best-Fit Selection Practices	p. 54
Best Practices for Engaging and Re-Engaging Through Job Task Assignment	p. 62
The Employee's Role in the Matching Process	p. 67
Employer-of-Choice Engagement Practices Review and Checklist	p. 68
Reason #3: Too Little Coaching and Feedback	p. 70
Why Coaching and Feedback Are Important to Engagement and Retention	p. 72
Why Don't Managers Provide Coaching and Feedback?	p. 73
Recognizing the Signs	p. 75
More Than an Event: It's About the Relationship	p. 75
Engagement Practices for Coaching and Giving Feedback	p. 77
A Five-Step Coaching Process	p. 82
What the Employee Can Do to Get More Feedback and Coaching	p. 89
Employer-of-Choice Engagement Practices Review and Checklist	p. 90
Reason #4: Too Few Growth and Advancement Opportunities	p. 93
What They Are Really Saying	p. 95
Employers of Choice Start by Understanding the New Career Realities	p. 97
Recognizing the Signs of Blocked Growth and Career Frustration	p. 99
Best Practices for Creating Growth and Advancement Opportunities	p. 100
What Employees Can Do to Create Their Own Growth and Advancement Opportunities	p. 114
Employer-of-Choice Engagement Practices Review and Checklist	p. 115
Reason #5: Feeling Devalued and Unrecognized	p. 118
Why Managers Are Reluctant to Recognize	p. 122
Recognizing the Signs That Employees Feel Devalued and Unrecognized	p. 123
Pay: The Most Emotional Issue of All	p. 124
Pay Practices That Engage and Retain	p. 125
Three Types of Variable Pay	p. 129
The Total Rewards Approach to Scarce Talent	p. 132
Nonpay Best Practices for Valuing and Recognizing People	p. 133
Focus on the People, Not Just the Numbers	p. 136
What Employees Can Do to Be More Valued and Better Recognized	p. 144
Employer-of-Choice Engagement Practice Review and Checklist	p. 145
Reason #6: Stress from Overwork and Work-Life Imbalance	p. 147
How Big a Problem Is Stress?	p. 150
Causes of Increased Stress	p. 151
Signs that Your Workers May Be Stressed-Out or Overworked	p. 151
Healthy vs. Toxic Cultures	p. 152
More Than Just the Right Thing to Do	p. 154
The Best Places in America to Work	p. 156
It's Not Just the "Big Boys" You're Competing With	p. 158
A Big Menu of Benefits and Services	p. 160
What the Employee Can Do to Relieve Stress and Overwork	p. 175
Employer-of-Choice Engagement Practices Review and Checklist	p. 176
Reason #7: Loss of Trust and Confidence in Senior Leaders	p. 179
A Crisis of Trust and Confidence	p. 182
Reading the Signs of Distrust and Doubt	p. 183
The Three Questions Employees Need Answered	p. 183
Criteria for Evaluating Whether to Trust and Have Confidence	p. 184
What the Employee Can Do to Build Reciprocal Trust and Confidence	p. 193
Employer-of-Choice Engagement Practices Review and Checklist	p. 194
Planning to Become an Employer of Choice	p. 196
Talent Engagement Strategies in Action	p. 198
What Do We Learn from These Success Stories?	p. 205
Linking Talent and Business Objectives	p. 205
Linking the Right Measures to Business Results	p. 206
Creating an Employer-of-Choice Scorecard	p. 207
The Plan Works...If You Work the Plan	p. 211
Partners in Working the Plan	p. 211
Summary Checklist of Employer-of-Choice Engagement Practices	p. 215
Guidelines and Considerations for Exit Interviewing/Surveying and Turnover Analysis	p. 218
Bibliography	p. 225
Index	p. 231
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave

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