There are plenty of reasons an employee may leave a job. A better offer may come along. They might be transitioning to a new career, or they may need to leave for family reasons (for example a spouse may get a job elsewhere). You might even think there are as many reasons for leaving a job as there are people.
You’d be wrong.
According to Gallup, half of all employees are looking for a new job, and half of those that do leave their job do so to get away from their managers. The Gallup CEO is quoted as saying:
The single biggest decision you make in your job–bigger than all the rest–is who you name manager. When you name the wrong person manager, nothing fixes that bad decision. Not compensation, not benefits–nothing.
Who are we hiring as managers? Because they’re scaring away all of the best talent in the company! You can see some of the worst examples of managers when a high-level executive gets fired at a large company, and their former direct reports are salivating at the prospect of trashing them in the media. The same report that discusses their termination will quote former employees describing them as aggressive, immoral, condescending, and sometimes even violent. But how common can it be to have a manager this bad?
A study from HR software company BambooHR answers this question. In their survey, 44% of people said their boss has been a primary reason they left a job. The top five reasons specifically were management style (37% of respondents), condescending attitude (30%) mean/bad temper (30%), inappropriate behavior (26%), and harassment (24%)! One out of four employees leaving their job reported being harassed by their boss!
The fact is that you can interview a manager all you want, but unless the interview is crafted carefully, it’s difficult to tell how they treat those that report to them. That’s why it’s so important to keep your employees aware of the ways that they can report innapropriate behavior and harassment, and to ensure them that it can be done without them facing retaliation. A company that could eliminate the worst bosses could have a dramatic effect on good employee turnover, which is one of the most expensive problems faced by any company.
To learn how CMTS:HR can help your company track workplace investigations more efficiently, call us at 855-636-5361 or email us at Team_CMTSHR@CMTSHR.com.