Actual Comments of Why Employees Leave
“We shouldn’t have to fight and email 10 people to do things like creating SKUs, follow up on orders, and change addresses.”
The Solution:
Obviously, as HR professionals, we have our own tasks that flow a certain expected way between departments and vendors and so we all understand where the frustration voiced in the exit interview quote above could come from.
It’s natural for employees (including us) to want to feel that they can reasonably accomplish their minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour tasks with efficiency even when their timely completion is dependent on the input of cooperating departments, the approval of managers, etc.
Almost any job comes with frustrations—this is not a perfect world and sometimes we hit speed bumps. Tempers flare and subside. That’s natural. But when exiting employees’ parting thoughts concern minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour frustrations on the job, and if internal processes become a negative theme in exit interviews, it’s important to relate that “upstairs.” Perhaps this is even especially true when those exiting employees came to your company from competitors who may have more efficient processes.
As an owner of a kitchen smoke detector, you know that there is not always fire when there is smoke. But sometimes, there is fire—or at least the oven needs cleaning.
As HR professionals, we are not necessarily internal process efficiency experts. But if we are good listeners who can identify important information and properly package it to those who can make positive change, then we can make a difference in the company, and for the employees who remain.
(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. 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. Check our blog often for posts like this, to reduce employee turnover within your organization. If you are interested in learning more, contact us today.)