Actual Comments on Why Employees Leave:

“Management must do a better job with problem employees and correct situations. Hire people correctly and do not hire people who are unable to perform.”

The Solution

Employees’ perceptions are reality. Based on this comment, the perceived “problem employee” appears to have a performance issue that wasn’t addressed. The comment also assumes if you hire properly, you will not have performance issues. A good hiring process ensures the company is matching the requirements of the job with the potential employee’s skills. Part of this process should include verifying skills through a reference checking system. Once employees are on board, it is the hiring manager’s responsibility to have appropriate support systems in place to minimize failure and promote success.

Support systems could include:

• Establish objectives with measurable criteria
• Regularly schedule meetings to review performance
• Employee access to the manager as the need arises
• Individual development plans to support career development

If the employee’s performance is not acceptable after the above steps have been implemented, the manager should figure out what is causing the poor employee performance within this individual. Ways to help a manager determine this could be:

• Determine a course of action
• Set deadlines
• Regularly review results against the correction plan

These are the first steps that should occur before moving into corrective action or a formal disciplinary process. If the employee is still not meeting expectations, a basis has been established for corrective action or the case of terminating an employee for poor performance has properly been established.

Not dealing effectively with poor employee performance among these types of problem employees can cause good employees to leave. It is always worth the time and effort required to address the performance of all employees on an ongoing basis. The cost of turnover is great and it is even more when good employees leave due to an organization not managing poorly performing employees.

(This blog post brought to you by HSD Metrics, an exit interview company that helps companies reduce employee turnover by providing automated reference checking, exit interviews, and by measuring employee retention. The comments from exiting employees that are featured in this blog are collected from actual exit interviews conducted using ExitRight, HSD’s exit interviewing service. If you are interested in learning more, contact us today. Because we place the privacy of our clients at the top of our priority list; the names of all involved parties are kept completely confidential.)