Why do employees quit?

HR Head of billion dollar IT product company, Abhijit Bhaduri shares his insight:

There could be push factors, for example, feelings of being treated unfairly or inequitably around salary, bonus, increments or assignments etc. Sometimes a resignation is an employee's way of protesting against unfulfilling work conditions or even a statement against the corporation's values. The list of reasons could go on. The Push factors are all internal to the existing employer. Of all the push factors, the most popular one is around Manager Quality. "People don't leave organizations, they leave managers." The managers' ability to know the company policies, basic HR processes eg performance management, career development etc and skills like giving feedback, being a career coach etc can be the biggest reason for an employee to stay or quit the organization. There could as well be Push Factors that are intangible. These could be the culture, the employer brand and many other things that never make it to the Letter of Appointment. 

If the tangible stuff is what attracts the employees, it is the intangibles that retain and engage the company's top talent. One of the big intangibles is around the company's culture. Every organization follows the unwritten code that immediately strikes the newbie. These are the unspoken norms around what is done and what is not done. From the dress code at work to what behavior is expected of the role and how the organization treats its achievers - all of it together forms the culture in which an employee thrives or suffocates. Every organization's statements of Values, Mission etc sounds noble. If they all followed them in letter and spirit, nobody would go to bed hungry in this world. These are always intended behavior.

Oh, I realised I had written something on that issue some time back too.

How much have you looked at the intangible magnets of your organization? Kris Dunn has a related post:

Great article by Peter Capelli in today's HR Executive that discusses the relationship between HR policies and stock performance. It summarizes the findings, entitled, "Does the Stock Market Fully Value Intangibles? Employee Satisfaction and Equity Prices