Why Your Top Talent Wants Out
It's because they're stressed, a factor that employers seem to be somewhat oblivious to.
Employers appear to be missing the boat in their assumptions about what drives valued talent to seek opportunities elsewhere, judging from new research by consulting firm Towers Watson.
Human-resources professionals at 316 North American organizations identified opportunities for promotion as the top reason (among 23 listed on the survey) that high performers would leave. In a separate study of more than 10,000 employees, work-related stress was cited as the chief factor. Getting promoted was the second item on their list, but work stress didn't crack the top five on the HR pros' list.
"It points to a lack of awareness, and a resulting attrition risk, that could play out if and when labor markets improve," says Laury Sejen, global leader, rewards consulting for Towers Watson. "Coming out of the recession, there's been a mind-set shift from employees that employers may not have kept up with."
Yet companies acknowledge they've been pushing people to work harder. In the survey, 65% of the HR people said employees have been working more hours than normal over the past three years, and 53% said workers will continue to put in the expanded hours over the next three years.
For some employees, though, stress may derive from sources other than long hours. Compared to the 65% plurality on the HR side that saw people staying at work longer, the same view was held by 57% of senior and middle managers, just 35% of first-line supervisors and team leaders, and 37% of administrative, clerical, and manual-labor workers.