Imagine your star employee walking in and handing in their resignation. It’s a situation no one wants, but staff attrition is an inevitable part of management. Whilst people leave for various reasons, retention should be a priority for every organisation. As a specialist Built Environment Recruitment Firm, we often hear from candidates who are looking to move on from their employers. Here are three main reasons they give for wanting to quit their jobs, along with our thoughts on what can be done to improve employee retention.

Employee/Manager Relationships

“People don’t leave jobs, they leave managers,” is a common idiom nowadays, and whilst it may not always be true, the impact of employee/manager relationships on someone’s decision to quit cannot be underestimated. It’s hardly surprising that this is one of the main reasons we encounter for employees deciding to leave their job, especially as the direct manager is central to most on-site activities and provides feedback as well as direction.

While it is definitely not essential to be mates (sometimes this is even detrimental), you do need to have a good working relationship. Uncomfortable or toxic relationships need to be dealt with swiftly. If they aren’t healed, it’ll only lead to lower engagement, confidence and motivation, and ultimately drive people out the door. In addition, a single toxic relationship can also have a broader negative impact with the rest of the team or business.

Culture and Office Politics

When it comes to culture, everyone has their preferences. For some, they might need a culture that is hands-on and relaxed, others may prefer something more orderly and structured. Whatever it is, culture plays a crucial part in employee satisfaction.

Personalities don’t always blend seamlessly and occasionally this can lead to clashes and interpersonal conflicts. This isn’t to say that companies should only ever hire for culture fit rather than culture add, but that identifying core values of your business, on your site or in a specific office, then finding candidates that fit this, is likely to lead to a better end result.

A lot of job seekers tell us that they’ve left previous companies because of toxic relationships with colleagues. When most of the day is spent working closely together, the working environment can easily become a negative one without synergy and mutual respect. This is why it’s crucial to eliminate any signs of toxicity in the workplace – if left unchecked it can quickly become a place you don’t want to be.

Taking the Next Step

No one likes to feel like they’re stuck in a rut, and most people will seek growth opportunities elsewhere if and when their current employers can no longer help them take the next step.

Employees need to feel that they have the tools necessary to cultivate and grow their careers, and can see future opportunities to help progress them. If staff feel that they are in a situation with inadequate progression and minimal professional enrichment, there is a good chance they will go in search of better opportunities where they have something to work towards or gain.

What Can Employers do to Maximise Retention?

From what we’ve observed, these are the three factors that stand out as reasons why people leave employers. Whilst sometimes there isn’t much that can be done to address employee concerns (e.g. a desire to work on projects closer to home), what can you do to help with employee retention, overall?

Firstly, having a clear direction helps. It is critical to your success that people understand what the overall vision of the project is, how you are working towards achieving it and that they are a vital component in that plan. Also, offering the chance to be involved in the team’s (and the company’s) vision helps to create a greater sense of camaraderie, connection and commitment. After all, people are much more likely to engage and participate in something they were a part of creating!

Next, reward and recognition is critical. A staff member who feels valued by leaders in both performance and efforts is significantly more likely to stay than those who don’t. However, it is important to note that while pay increases and bonuses can be good motivational tools, they aren’t necessarily the only thing employees are looking for. In fact, more often than not it is the small things that really make a big difference. While it’s easy to underestimate the power of a pat on the back, it goes a long way – especially with top performers who are intrinsically motivated.

Finally, foster healthy and positive relationships through team building. While poorly run team building exercises can often induce eye-rolls and sighs, when done correctly they can be an ideal way to bring the team together and increase morale as well as improve cohesion or perhaps simply serve as a reward for good results. It doesn’t always have to be something big either. Smaller, more regular activities such as work drinks often work just as well as they give employees an opportunity to come together, bond and de-stress off-site, or away from the office.

Summary

While attrition is a natural part of management (especially with the new generations entering the workforce who don’t expect to work for the same employer for much beyond 3-4 years), we all know that onboarding new employees is no cheap task. You don’t want to be holding exit interviews and goodbye lunches on a regular basis, either! For more recruitment advice, or for support with your Built Environment recruitment, get in touch with our team today.