Good morning!
Earlier this year, business leaders and media outlets alike were quick to declare the “Great Resignation” over as quit rates returned to pre-pandemic levels.
But as I wrote last month, the quit rates in late 2019 were still considered historically high, suggesting employers aren’t out of the woods yet. And a new survey from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) of more than 11,000 employees across eight countries indicates that attrition could remain volatile next year. According to BCG's survey, 28% of workers say they do not see themselves staying with their current employer over the next year.
Employees surveyed listed factors like pay, benefits and perks, and work-life balance as the top reasons for taking a new job. But more emotional factors also play a significant role in an employee’s decision to leave. When asked to rank different aspects of work, pay and hours still held the top two spots. But, emotional needs such as being fairly treated and respected, job security, and doing work they enjoy rounded out the top five preferences for employees. For workers who intended to leave their jobs, those emotional factors were particularly top of mind, beating out functional aspects like pay.
“It's so intuitive. When do you say, ‘You know, I’ve had it, I'm looking for a new job’? It's when someone takes credit for work that you did, yelled at you, or made you feel like you don't matter,” says Debbie Lovich, head of people strategy at BCG. “Those are the things that drive attrition risk. That's the important stuff to act on if you want to prevent churn.”
Out of 300 different attributes in the workplace, BCG’s report identified managers as the “most powerful lever” employers have for meeting employees' emotional needs. Around 56% of employees who reported strong dissatisfaction with their manager were less likely to want to stay with their employer the next year, compared to 16% of workers who were very satisfied with their manager.
But creating great managers is more easily said than done. Supervisors should receive on-the-job coaching and be encouraged to improve their leadership habits, says Lovich. For example, managers should be trained to help guide employees through problem-solving instead of just giving them the answers.
“The best way to create great managers [is] through on-the-job coaching, the rhythm and routines, the small things that people do that make a big difference,” says Lovich. “So it's more the role of operations—in partnership with HR, of course—but it's got to happen every minute of the day.”
Paige McGlauflin
paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com
@paidion
