Reasons Employees Want to Leave

Reasons Employees Want to Leave — The Top 5
 We know from leadership simulation assessment data that the ability to retain top talent is a critical challenge for every leader looking to succeed. We know from organizational culture assessment results that employees make decisions to stay or leave based on a mix of personal and organizational factors. Understanding reasons employees want to leave and rating top performer retention risks can help leaders create action plans to better engage and retain top talent.

The Top Reasons Why Employees Want to Leave and What to Do About It

1. Lack of Opportunity
   One of the top reasons why employees want to leave is tied to the perceived lack of career advancement opportunities. If employees feel underused, unable to play to their strengths, stagnant, or bored, they will seek out companies that provide more opportunities for career growth, learning, and upward mobility. When organizations fail to offer clear career paths, customized training programs, or meaningful succession planning and promotions, high performing employees disengage and start looking elsewhere.
   
   Areas to Invest In:
   — Making jobs interesting, meaningful, and challenging.
   — Clarifying professional growth and career development opportunities.
   — Ensuring people are utilizing their strengths.
   
   
2. Inadequate Compensation and Benefits
   While salary isn’t always the deciding factor, high performing employees who feel taken advantage of (e.g., underpaid or undervalued) are more likely to leave. Competitive compensation packages, based upon market standards, are a necessity to reduce the risk losing top talent to competitors offering more financial upside.
   
   Areas to Invest In:
   — Ensuring high performers feel like they are paid fairly.
   — Recognizing contribution to organizational success.
   — Providing benefits that meet individual and family needs.
   
   
3. Poor Leadership and Management
   We know from employee engagement action results that managers have an outsized impact on employee engagement and retention. Ineffective leadership —characterized by ambiguity, micromanagement, workplace politics, conflict avoidance, lack of support, or unclear communication — creates employee dissatisfaction. When high performers don’t feel heard, respected, or empowered by their leaders, they seek better leadership elsewhere.
   
   Areas to Invest In:
   — Ensuring everyone knows how performance is measured.
   — Caring about the personal and professional goals and needs of every high performer.
   — Providing the support and guidance required for every high performer to stay and thrive.
   
   
4. Toxic Workplace Culture
   Our organizational alignment research found that workplace culture accounts for 40% of the difference in terms of revenue growth, profitability, customer retention, customer satisfaction, leadership effectiveness, and employee engagement. A toxic work environment marked by chaos, favoritism, excessive stress, office politics, or unethical behavior drives good employees away and allows toxic employees to thrive. If employees don’t feel psychologically safe or experience workplace hostility, they will seek out organizations with cultures that better align with their core values.
   
   Areas to Invest In:
   — Having clear team goals and accountabilities.
   — Ensuring that team members can depend on each other.
   — Committing to top quality work and treating each other with respect.
   
   
5. Poor Team Dynamics
   Today, most work is accomplished through teams; team dynamics play an outsized role in engaging and retaining top talent. A lack of shared goals, unclear team norms, or minimal team interdependence creates burnout and dysfunction — two leading factors of employee turnover.
   
   Areas to Invest In:
   — Defining the culture required to execute your strategy.
   — Assessing your current organizational culture to identify the gaps.
   — Taking meaningful employee engagement actions to close the gaps.

The Bottom Line
Employee retention is not about a single factor but rather a combination of organizational strategies, business practices, cultures, and leaders that shape workplace satisfaction and commitment. Invest the time to identify retention risks and improve the retention practices required to engage and retain top talent.  The goal is to create an environment where top talent thrives, stays engaged, and contributes to long-term success.

To Learn more about combatting the top reasons employees want to leave, download 2 Immediate Steps for Every CHRO to Retain Top Performers