11 Things Managers Do That Drive Employees To Quit

Employees quit jobs for a wide variety of reasons – money, growth opportunities, better situations, relocations, and the list goes on. It’s always a frustrating and expensive situation when an employee quits, but it happens. The big question is: Do you know why your employee quit?

Overworked employee with hands over face sitting at desk

One of the top reasons why good employees quit their jobs is due to bad management. Even if an employee loves their job, they may ultimately choose to move on solely because they don’t like your management style. It’s a harsh reality, but it’s also something that’s easy to change.

16 Reasons Why People Quit Their Jobs

Losing team members due to bad management is easy to avoid. By simply changing the way that you manage your team, you can boost your employee retention rates and increase employee satisfaction. The results of that are huge and will help to make your business more successful.

Below you’ll find 11 things that managers do that drive employees to quit:

Overwork People – Get to know your employees and learn their limits. Never give them more work than they can handle.
Micromanage – Once your employees know the job, let them run with it. Constantly overseeing their work and making an ordeal about nit-picky details is not a good thing.
Never Provide Feedback Or Coaching – Your employees want to be good at what they do. It’s your job to engage them with positive feedback, constructive criticism, and helpful coaching to help them hone their skills and improve at what they do.
Lack People Skills – Your employees are people and you need to treat them with respect. Go out of your way to show a genuine interest in your team and treat them the way you would want to be treated.
Don’t Allow For Flexibility – Flexibility is one of the most important aspects of a job. As long as your team gets their work done, why not allow them a bit of flexibility to live their life and do their work?
Play Favorites – Everyone in the workplace deserves to be treated equally. You can’t play favorites or it will have devastating effects on the rest of your team.
Promote The Wrong People – The people you place in leadership roles has an immediate impact on the productivity, morale, and engagement of the people they manage. When you need to promote someone, choose wisely.
Don’t Care – It’s important for a manager to show that they care about their workers, their products/services, and their company. From an employee’s point of view, if a manager doesn’t care, why should they.
They Are Not Open And Honest – Employees want to know what’s going on at work. When you are open, honest, and transparent, it’s easier for employees to support what’s happening.
Didn’t Engage Creativity – Your employees are not robots. Let them think for themselves and be creative. An idea that you didn’t think of may change the way your company operates for the better.
The Office Isn’t Any Fun – As a manager you have the power to make your office a happy place. This requires a bit of creativity and may include things like parties, team building exercises, mandatory outdoor time, or game rooms. A fun workplace creates happy employees and that’s a good thing.

If you’ve done these things and it’s driven your top employees to quit, unfortunately, you’ve failed as a manager. It’s time to be honest – how many of these things are you guilty of? Do your actions drive employees to quit? Is it time for a change?

It’s easy to complain about losing your top talent, but it’s better to do something about it. Realize that mistakes happen and adjust your management style accordingly. Good management starts with you. Treat your employees the way you’d want to be treated every day. If your team enjoys working for you, then you’re on the right track.

See Also: