Employers have a tough enough task these days finding qualified workers. But, once found, and once on board, they are increasingly challenged to keep them. Today’s employees have options, which means employers need to ensure that they’re providing an environment that positions them well against the competition.
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In any employment climate, it’s expensive to search for, recruit, hire, and train new staff. Losing an employee is bad enough, but it can be a double blow if that employee ends up jumping ship to lend his or her skills to another organization in your industry.
What Makes Employees Jump Ship?
It’s important for employers to understand what factors contribute to employees’ leaving for other employment opportunities. While factors like workplace flexibility, opportunities for advancement, and a collegial work environment are always important, money still seems to be the top factor, according to a survey by OfficeTeam, which polled 2,800 workers. Of those surveyed, 44% said they would leave their current job for one that pays better.
This was, by far, the biggest driver. Aside from money, the next-highest reasons workers would quit (each at 12%) were:
- For a company with a higher purpose/stronger mission
- Not feeling appreciated
- Feeling bored or unchallenged at work
Clearly, money matters. For employers, that means ensuring that wages are not only internally equitable but also externally competitive.
Staying on Top of Salary Trends
While employers should always strive to pay competitive market wages, doing so becomes particularly critical in an employee market. A rapidly changing environment impacted by technology, changing consumer purchasing habits, the economy, and other impacts means that the demand for certain types of employees with certain types of skills is continually shifting—and the price employers must pay for those skills is also shifting.
It’s important for employers to stay on top of salary trends and to ensure that they pay rates that are competitive and market-driven.
Obviously, these results don’t mean that companies should only focus on wage increases in their efforts to retain their employees. In fact, some would suggest, and other studies have indicated, that while employees may say salary was their biggest driver in making a decision to leave an organization, other factors are actually more compelling.
While some of these factors rank lower on the list—at least based on the OfficeTeam survey—factors like employee appreciation and meaningful, challenging work still make a difference.
And for those companies—and there are many out there—that simply don’t have much room in their salary budgets, these additional factors are low-cost opportunities to entice employees to stay.