Eight reasons why employees choose to leave a company

Provide employees with advancement opportunities to make sure a job doesn’t become stale. Photo courtesy of the Propane Education & Research Council

The propane industry often discusses the challenges of hiring new people, but a big part of the problem is employee retention.

When an employer feels like an employee isn’t a good fit at the company, the employer might consider whether to keep the employee. Similarly, when an employee feels like he lacks something from his employer, he might also consider looking for a new job.

“We often think about things only from the employer perspective,” says Justine Staub, director of workforce development at AmeriGas. “While you’re looking for something out of your employees, know that they are also looking for something out of you.”

Staub serves as a member of the National Propane Gas Association’s (NPGA) workforce development task force. She researched the topic of employee retention for an educational session on recruitment development at the NPGA Southeastern Convention & International Propane Expo in Nashville, Tennessee. Employees tend to look for more than just a fair salary out of their employers, she says.

During the educational session, Staub presented the following eight reasons employees might choose to leave a company:

1. Salary and benefits: Companies need to make sure their salaries and benefits are competitive. Staub recommends propane retailers use online resources such as salary.com or hire an outside vendor such as PayFactors to check that employee pay and benefits are fair.

2. Dislike the work: If an employee dislikes his job, he will likely leave within the first 90 days, Staub says. This issue goes back to the hiring process and checking that potential employees know all facets of the job to make an informed decision on the job offer. Staub suggests retailers offer potential employees a tour of the company to give them a better picture of the job and company.

3. Lack of care for individual employees: Employers need to connect with employees on a human level. Staub recommends employers consider asking employees for their perspectives on company issues and even checking in to see how employees are doing to build a stronger connection with them.

4. Lack of recognition: To boost employee morale, encourage good things employees do both publicly and privately. Offer bonuses for noteworthy performance achievements when possible, Staub adds.

5. Tough work-life balance: This factor is the most important with regard to millennials, Staub says. To provide better work-life balance options, offer vacation time and consider letting employees work from home if it applies to their position.

6. Lack of career advancement: If a job does not allow an employee to advance, the job might start to feel stale. Provide all employees with leadership opportunities to help them advance.

7. Lack of trust in the boss: This issue pertains to a company’s selection of management. Offer strong management training programs to ensure employees have good managers. Staub also suggests companies conduct surveys with employees on how they feel management treats them so that managers know how they are performing.

8. Company has a bad reputation, values: Make sure the company has good core values, as well as a strong and positive reputation in the community. If the company has a bad reputation, employees are more likely to leave.