Employee Recognition & Why Good People Quit Good Companies

Great employees are the backbone of every successful business. An article in Chron explains that high employee turnover increases expenses and has a negative effect on company morale.  According to the Society for Human Resources Management, “Employee replacement costs can reach as high as 50 - 60% of an employee’s annual salary.” This is a high price to pay, and also leads to decreased productivity, especially while the role is empty, and while hiring and training a new employee to fill open positions.

We have all felt what it's like to do something and not get recognized. While you should not be doing good or kind things for acknowledgement or recognition, it is always appreciated when someone does recognize it. Mostly I refer to work situations. Recognize and give credit to your colleagues and employees. The people who work hard, achieve things in the workplace, and try to be great employees. Most people want to be genuinely recognized and acknowledged for doing well at work and in life. When you tell someone "good job!" you're showing them that you noticed and appreciated them and their hard work.

As simplistic as it seems, many people every year leave good jobs simply because they feel unappreciated.

In 2013, Forbes published an article stating that 2 million Americans quit their jobs voluntarily every month, and that according to a study done by Accenture, 43% of people quitting their jobs cite "lack of recognition" as the reason. This is a huge percentage and something that is so easily remedied. Appreciate your people! Just because you pay someone to do a job doesn't mean that person doesn't deserve recognition when they do it well. In a world where great employee retention is a huge part of success, you should not be losing anyone to them feeling unappreciated for their work.

Other reasons cited for leaving a job included internal politics (35%), lack of empowerment (31%), and they don't like their boss (31%). Of this 100%, 69% is fairly easily remedied by acknowledging your employee's hard work, empowering them to make good decisions and do their work as they see fit (this would include great training and investing in your employees), and working to make internal politics a thing of the past.

Good management sticks together and presents a united front to both internal employees and outwardly to the world. If you're allowing petty infighting and internal politics to drive away good people, you will never be able to have the level of success you deserve. Like any relationship, management should be a team, not adversaries.

Employee retention begins and ends with great training. Management training for new managers and continuing training for longtime managers, comprehensive training and support for new employees, and ongoing support for long term employees. When you train new people on everything and continually put time and effort into their success, employees will feel supported, knowledgeable, and empowered to be able to make decisions and work with clients to the best of their ability. One of the biggest killers of productivity and feelings of empowerment is micromanaging.

From my own experience, being micromanaged feels like your boss doesn't trust you to do your job well or make good decisions, and leads to decreased productivity and increased unhappiness, and a higher likelihood of looking for a new job.

What have you experienced? Have you felt unappreciated, or been somewhere where management has acknowledged people in different ways? Why did you quit your last job?