Thursday, September 8, 2011

Are you losing your employees? Do you want to know why?


Are you losing your employees? Do you want to know why?
Written by: Nisreen Qaqish / General Manager AZARHRS



During the last two years working as a consultant I have met several CEO’s for Small and Medium Enterprises and whenever I meet some I hear the same complains “We have high turnover”, “Employees are not loyal as they used to be”,   “People do not want to work at SME, they use us to gain experience and then to work with corporates” and much 
more…..



Are the statements above true or not I am not sure, but I think if we are aware of Maslow and Herzberg theory then we will know why people are leaving us?

As per the pyramid above what leads to dissatisfaction and then would force people to leave is the following:
1-      Salary
Do you believe that your employees can pay their bills and essential expenses i.e. food? If they cannot then they will leave soon once they have a 10 JD increase
2-      Job Security
Do your employees feel that they would lose their job or their job is secured? If your employees feel that there is no job security then definitely they will leave you
3-      Relationship with direct Manager
Are your direct managers competent, they know how to communicate with their team, they are respectful and resourceful?  Or they are bossy and control freak? If your managers do not know how to communicate, manage and motivate their employees then they will leave? Remember “People leave managers not companies”.
4-      Relationship with Peers
Have you created a teamwork culture? Do your employees know how to handle conflict resolution?  If there is no harmony between your employees then you will lose them?
5-      Work Conditions
Have you created a safe environment? Do you care about the wellness of your employees or you have created a tough working condition were your employees are over stressed and burnt-out? Unsafe environment, stressed and burnout environment are not really tempting to work with
6-      Company Policy
Do you have clear set of policies? Are your policies flexible and easy to understand or very strict and fixed?
7-      Growth and Career Advancement
Do you have career ladders? Do you offer learning opportunities? Do you have potential to grow? Do you have succession planning? Your top employees need to grow otherwise they will leave you
8-      Recognition
Do you reward your top achievers; do you recognize their work in public? As people like to be appreciated and rewarded not for what they are but for what they do? Even though people they do not ask for recognition but believe they need it more than money
9-      Work itself
Have you created meaningful jobs? Have you hired the right person for the right positions or you are hiring over-qualified employees where they feel demotivated? Bad recruitment decision might lead to meaningless job and then would create an urgency to leave
10-  Achievement
Do your employees feel that they are contributing to the success of the company? Can your employees share their ideas, and do you listen to those ideas and make used of them?