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Discussing Employee Retention

By David Luong, SPHR

Do we as representatives of management lead employees to be engaged, or do employees engage themselves to
drive business success? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Employers expect their employees to be motivat-
ed, engaged, hardworking, and determined to bring about success to the organization. However, I often ask myself if
these “ideal employees” exist because many organizations are actually faced with a pool of current employees and
potential candidates who are not motivated, self-determined, or productive. As a human resources professional, I
often discuss this challenge with my colleagues at similar organizations and the feedback I get usually suggests a be-
lief that, “we don't pay workers well enough and can't attract good employees with this kind of pay, so that's why
they leave or put in sub-par work.”

Let us explore this for a moment, putting aside our assumptions and biases to consider why we, as employers, can-
not attract and retain good employees. The number one reason for employees to disengage or to be unproductive
isn't the financial reward as we often believe. Yes, money is important, but not the top reasons why employees
leave their jobs. There are many reasons why employees disengage and leave their organizations. However, the
most important reason for low employee retention that we face on a daily basis is how employees are treated by
their bosses. I am sure you have heard of this before, but have any of us ever put time and effort to deeply think
about it? Below are a few of the actions I think result in employee disengagement.

Managers Overwork People
Nothing burns good employees out quite like overworking them. It's so tempting to work your best people hard that
managers frequently fall into this trap. Overworking good employees is perplexing; it makes them feel as if they're
being punished for great performance. Talented employees will take on a bigger workload, but they won't stay if
their job suffocates them in the process. Raises, promotions, and title-changes are all acceptable ways to increase
workload. If you simply increase workload because people are talented, without changing a thing, they will seek an-
other job that gives them what they deserve.

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