Employees are the company’s lifeblood that keeps it circulating, moving, alive. But why do some companies find it hard to keep their people? Why do employees quit?
Matt DeCoursey and Matt Watson know the ins and outs of building a startup. Having created startup companies before, these brilliant founders of Full Scale are well-acquainted with all the challenges of being a startup leader. One of these challenges is the high turnover rate.
For episode 89 of Startup Hustle, Watson and DeCoursey talked over the reasons why employees quit and why they choose to stay. The podcast hosts conferred some of their personal experiences as employees and as startup leaders.
If you are on your way to building a startup or currently managing a startup company, listen to the podcast to gather ideas and advice that might save your growing business.
Why do employees quit?
For this episode, Matts discussed important points as to why good employees quit their jobs. Here are its highlights:
- Job and tasks become routines. Doing the same thing over and over again bores an employee. A routine task turns into a habitual activity which makes the job simple, and plain boring.
- Bad boss-employee relationship. Good leaders are supported by good followers. A bad boss and employee relationship can be a reason why employees quit.
- Indefinite career advancement. A company without a clear career path for employees can hinder its people and demotivate employees to work longer in the company
- Lack of opportunity to use skills and capabilities.
- Hiring or promoting the wrong people. Hard work should result in proper praise and opportunity. If a company aimlessly hire and promote people, bypassing employees who have proven themselves, your people may look for a job that will better reward them according to their effort.
- Job security. Lack of sales, recent layoffs, reducing work hours, freezing pay increase, and bad press about the organization.
Why do employees stay?
If employees have their reason for quitting, they should also have a reason why they choose to stay on a job. The podcast content states these reasons. Most of these are practiced in by Decoursey and Watson in their businesses while some are observations from other businesses. Here are the highlights of the discussion:
- A good work culture. Comfortable working environment and good relationships with co-workers can make an employee stay.
- People stay when they are with the things they are passionate about.
- Appreciating your employees, treat them with respect, benefits, perks, compensation.
- Transparency of communication among your employees. Be transparent by reporting them if everything is going well with the company.
How can a startup hire great people?
A startup may find it hard to attract great employees. But with proper management, it can surely gather loyal people.
- Employees stay with a startup company once they see that the startup has a clear ability to grow.
- Don’t water down your ability to compensate people financially.
Listen to Episode 89 of the Startup Hustle podcast – Why Employees Quit
