6 reasons why your good employees are leaving

If all your good employees are choosing to leave your company, chances are it’s not actually their fault.

Dr Travis Bradberry, author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, recently pointed out the mistakes bosses are making when it comes to their best employees and why they’re leaving your company. He suggested that the following practices are the worst offenders and must be abolished if you want to keep your good workers.

You don’t make things fun
Dr Bradberry said: “If people aren’t having fun at work, then you’re doing it wrong. People don’t give their all if they aren’t having fun, and fun is a major protector against brownout. The best companies to work for know the importance of letting employees loosen up a little.

“The idea is simple: if work is fun, you’ll not only perform better, but you’ll stick around for longer hours and an even longer career.”

You don’t let people pursue their passions
Companies like Google believe that employees should spend at least 20% of their time doing what they believe will benefit the business the most, because talented workers are passionate. Dr Bradberry said: “Providing opportunities for them to pursue their passions improves their productivity and job satisfaction, but many managers want people to work within a little box.

“This fear is unfounded. Studies have shown that people who are able to pursue their passions at work experience flow, a euphoric state of mind that is five times more productive than the norm.”

You don’t care about your workers
Workers tend to leave their job because of the relationship they have with their boss, not because of the actual role and their responsibilities. Dr Bradberry explained: “Smart companies make certain that their managers know how to balance being professional with being human.

“It’s impossible to work for someone for eight-plus hours a day when they aren’t personally involved and don’t care about anything other than your output.”

You don’t recognise accomplishments
Many bosses underestimate the power of saying well done to their workers. But this is incredibly important as many employees are intrinsically motivated. Dr Bradberry said: “Rewarding individual accomplishments shows that you’re paying attention.

“Managers need to communicate with their people to find out what makes them feel good. With top performers, this will happen often if you’re doing it right.”

You treat everyone equally
This may seem like a good thing to do, but your employees can find this very patronising. Although this tactic may work for children, it’s different in the workplace. Dr Bradberry said: “Treating everyone equally shows your top performers that no matter how high they perform, they will be treated the same as the bozo who does nothing more than punch the clock.”

They make stupid rules
Many employees find that too many rules are simply just annoying and there’s no need for so many. Dr Bradberry suggested that rules in the workplace don’t need to be lazy attempts at creating order. He said: “Unnecessary rules can drive people crazy. When good employees feel like big brother is watching, they’ll find someplace else to work.”

He added: “Managers tend to blame their turnover problems on everything under the sun while ignoring the crux of the matter: people don’t leave jobs; they leave managers”.

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