Actual Comments of Why Employees Leave
“The only feedback one would get is when they felt you should be doing something more to drive revenue. Very little acknowledgment as to all the tremendous things that were accomplished. This is not a good way to increase employee morale.”

The Solution
Carefully reading the commentary that is included in exit interview results is a valuable way to really understand the emotion behind interview responses. The cost of recognition, appreciation, and support is often the time you spend recognizing your employees. During these economic times when salary increases continue to be under 3%, organizations can overcome employees’ dissatisfaction or disappointment of not receiving higher salary increases by increasing recognition, appreciation, and support.

So, what can employers do? How about a simple “thank you” when employees go above and beyond their typical job duties to help complete a project. While money is nice, verbally acknowledging a job well done is a very powerful message.

If you have an intranet site, create a column to recognize those whose accomplishments warrant attention; employees who work on special projects, those who are there for the organization whenever you need to get the job done, someone who steps up to help others when they are in need, are just a few examples. Create an internal brand of “thank you” notes for employees and managers to send to each other.

Supporting employees is as easy as being available when they need to discuss a situation they are having difficulty with and showing you care about them as employees and individuals. Recognition goes a long way in helping to retain employees. Remember, even though we do not have a robust economy, good employees can always find new jobs.

(This blog post is 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.)