Job Dissatisfaction, Not Bad Management, is Main Cause for Resignations

A survey of more than 11,000 respondents from 40 organizations found that the idea that most employee resign due to poor management may be a myth. The real culprit appears to be job dissatisfaction resulting from a lack of training, motivation, and sufficient challenge. The survey, released by Insync, also found that businesses can save nearly $300,000 per year by reducing turnover to 5 percent (at an average salary of $75,000). Additionally, it reported that most business could potentially change 80 percent of their staff turnovers with the proper techniques.

“There’s been this myth that employees often leave their boss, not their employer, and we’ve heard that many times,” said Insync Chief Executive Nicholas Barnett. “But we’ve wanted to dig a little bit deeper, to look at what an employee says are important reasons around their resignation. When we do that, we find something else.”

The primary reasons for leaving, according to the survey, were lack of job satisfaction (37 percent), lack of career opportunities (35 percent), a better opportunity elsewhere (34 percent), unspecified personal reasons (33 percent). Nearly 50 percent of women cited work-life balance issues as a major motivator for resigning compared to 40 percent of men. Work-life balance was also the primary motivator for resigning in the Generation-Y sector.

“Our research has found employees leave primarily due to the job itself and not for reasons such as pay and conditions or relationships with managers or peers. If a job is inherently unfulfilling or unsatisfying it’s highly likely that employees will look elsewhere for other opportunities, no matter what incentives are in place,” Barnett said.