Job change affects both, an employee and the employer. By my experience, any reason for job change is a bitter-sweet experience with a somewhat sour aftertaste.
This holds true in almost every situation when an employee parts with an employer for any reason.
Bitter-Sweet-Sour Experience
While a job change may usher in a new era of prosperity and career growth, bidding adieu to colleagues and old work habits isn’t easy.
Later, a job change leaves with that lingering doubt whether we could have done something better, said something else that would have helped the employer or colleagues.
The same holds true for employers. They begin to feel the void left by a departing employee and often miss their skills.
It entails promotions within the organization of hiring new staff, depending upon the situation. Employers also rue the fact they could have done something to prevent a staff member from leaving.
A job change is rife with uncertainties for both. While an employee changing jobs is uncertain how quickly or efficiently adapt to new working conditions, employers worry whether a new person at the position will deliver desirable results.
Understanding the Reasons for Job Change
Therefore, it’s vital for employers and employees to clearly understand the reasons for leaving job.
Understanding the reasons for job change will also give you a clearer picture of whether you actually need a job change.
And employers can identify ways and means to reduce attrition rates and reduce the number of employees looking for job change.
Main Reason for Job Change
Here we’ll identify some main reasons for leaving a job and see how they impact an employee and employer. Knowing these causes would help both.
Lack of Appreciation
Lack of appreciation by an employer is the main cause of attrition, find several studies worldwide. Every employee, whether a high-performing star or a cantankerous, unwilling worker, all look for an appreciation of some sort.
Here it’s worth remembering that appreciation doesn’t necessarily mean salary hikes or some monetary compensation. Money does matter but not as much as workers or employers tend to wrongly believe.
Appreciation can be in any form. This can include something as simple as appreciating efforts of an employee before their colleagues or an invitation for coffee.
When an employee feels more empowered, they’ll usually go that extra mile to improve own performance.
However, losing an employee for lack of appreciation can severely demoralize an entire workforce. And this will snowball as high attrition rates as more workers will look for job change.
An employee changing jobs is also at high risk. Often while applying for a new job, the new employer will promise the Moon because they desperately need your skills.
But upon joining, you would be brought back down to Earth and asked to deliver more than what you are capable of. Workers caught in this trap now have a bigger reason for leaving job.
Seniority v/s Productivity
When it comes to promoting a person within an organization, decision-makers always face a tough decision.
They’ve to choose between someone with long-standing service to the company and a younger one with lesser years of service. It’s the proverbial clash of gray hair against young blood.
This is another major reason for job change. The older, senior employee may obviously feel that years of loyalty were in vain. The younger worker would find no incentives for hard work and high productivity.
But here’s how to prevent this clash from becoming one of the reasons for job change. As a business owner or senior manager, it’s vital to remember that replacing a veteran can prove extremely difficult.
A long-serving employee is well versed in company processes and adept in the field. That’s the main reason for their retention by the organization.
A younger or newer employee is pumping new blood in the organization and helping it grow rapidly. If lack of appreciation by way of promotions becomes reasons for job change, the company will lose on modern skills necessary for the business.
This calls for astute decision making. Find which among the two employees is a better decision-maker and a natural leader.
Find how promoting any of them would impact the organization both positively and adversely. Decide on promotion only when the pros outweigh the cons.
If the younger employee bags the promotion, find other ways and means to make the senior worker feel their services are valuable.
This may be possible through increments in salary and perks. Ensure these salary and perks are equal if not more than ones that would be given to the younger worker.
And to make sure the newer, younger worker with high productivity doesn’t take offense, offer incentives. These incentives can come in the form of productivity linked bonuses. This means, higher the productivity, more the perks and pay.
Skills Redundancy & Training
One more reason for job change is when you start feeling redundant and you’re unable to update skills in line with the latest trends in the industry.
This is a very dangerous scenario both for employees and employers. Because competitors that have employees with the latest skills will sooner or later overtake your business in terms of profits. A rival can easily usurp your company from a leading position.
But here’s what employees can do. If your employer is unable to provide training that conforms to the latest industry trends and practices, do an online course.
A lot of these online courses don’t cost much. And you can practice the skills you learn from the course, during your routine work.
This automatically translates as higher productivity and relevance of skills. And would result in better pay through increments, promotions, and incentives.
And as an employer, you can stop skills redundancy and lack of training from becoming one of the reasons for leaving job.
Encourage employees to undertake online training courses relevant to their roles and would increase productivity.
Pay the fees for the online course on behalf of the employee. Alternatively, you can buy an excellent online course for the enterprise and have all employees from a department study together during work hours.
Relocation
Another reason for job change is relocation. India is witnessing high migration of skilled millennials to centers such as large cities that hold promising opportunities.
This migration benefits employers: they’re able to hire talent from a larger pool. For employees, migration means an opportunity to improve their financial status and become part of a large corporation.
However, relocation comes with its own inherent problems. Even a highly paid employee of a large Multinational Company (MNC) or giant organization will experience that age-old phenomenon known as homesickness.
And this yearning to live with family in native land can prove to be among major reasons for leaving job. As companies spread to smaller cities across India, it is but natural that your employee will try and find one nearer their hometown.
As an employer, you may be unable to expand operations to a specific area that your very talented worker is eyeing. That shouldn’t become a hindrance.
Offer work-from-home jobs where possible. Create a human resources strategy that allows people to work from home and deliver the necessary results.
Employees can also prevent this homesickness and related issues and prevent it from becoming one of the reasons for job change. Ask your employer for work-from-home opportunities. And where possible, offer to expand the company’s network to your area.
Unhealthy Work Culture
A lot of large corporations, known for excellent human resources policies and superb pay scales also create lots of reasons for leaving job- inadvertently.
That occurs due to an unhealthy work culture. By the term ‘unhealthy’ I don’t imply that your workplace is hazardous to human health or life. Or that it’s filthy, unclean and can cause disease.
Instead, my definition of unhealthy work culture is a where employees form groups on the basis of caste, class, religion, native language and other factors.
This leads to unnecessary politics in the offices, causes employees to develop a bias against one-another, gives rise to rumors and gossip and overall loss of productivity.
Employees can prevent such unhealthy work culture from becoming one of the reasons for job change. Simply avoid people that engage in fruitless exercises such as forming groups or gossip about other colleagues.
Instead, focus your energies on work and productivity. Avoid bias for or against any coworker. Maintain cordial and excellent relations with every staff member regardless of any factor.
For employers, it’s very essential to avoid this scenario as reasons for leaving job among employees. Recruit people from diverse backgrounds and culture.
Come down heavily on staff members that try and form groups on ethnic or other lines. In brief, provide disincentives for any behavior that negatively impacts your company. You’ll be amazed at the results.
Closing Thoughts
There are countless reasons for leaving job and it’s humanly impossible to counter each of them. Employers need to ensure their systems and work practices aren’t providing any reasons for job change.
Employees have to understand that job change isn’t easy and comes with immense challenges. A wrong reason for job change can land an employee from the proverbial frying pan to fire. And it may be very difficult to get out of that fire where you land due to wrong decisions.
