Who’s to blame if the workers resign?

A happy person who lives in a hut is better than a sad one who lives in a castle.

We’d like to pinpoint the real reason why our workers are resigning. This should give us enough answers to localize the situation and not put blame on HR alone for its faulty hiring practices and procedures. But then, could you give us some pointers? — Turnover Buster.

The rule of thumb that I’ve used since time immemorial is that if the resignation comes within the six-month probationary period of the resigned worker, then the accusing finger should point to the human resource department. If it’s more than six months but less than one year, then the presumption of guilt is divided 50-50 between HR and the direct boss of the worker.

And if it’s more than one year, then the immediate boss is undoubtedly remiss in his obligation of motivating the worker to stay in the company for a good, reasonable number of years.

Truly, money is not everything, but it enables one to look for it in other places.

Happiness is what makes the world go round. Even if you pirate someone from another company and give him the best pay and perk package, you’ll never know how long the new employee would stay in the organization. Most of the time, it’s just a matter of making a little adjustment, which may not involve material things. Take this cute, little story:

A young couple had been married for about a year. They were struggling financially and decided to do something about it. They would develop a strategy. They sat down one day to talk about their financial condition. And the wife said to her husband:

“If we miss two payments on the refrigerator, and one payment on the washing machine, we’ll have enough money to make a down payment on a new television set.”

Of course, the ref, the washing machine and the TV set are basic home appliances that an individual can’t do without. Therefore, what I’m saying is that — if a new employee was enticed because of an attractive job offer, it’s only a matter of time, before another attractive job offer comes along.

So what are the reasons why people leave their jobs? In my more than three decades of HR work, inside and outside of the corporate world, I’ve encountered thousands of employees who have listed their reasons in the following order:

First, they can’t stomach their relationship with toxic and command-and-control bosses. They hate people managers who treat them like rags, if not students in grade school, to the point where they feel like they’re robots.

Second, they are treated well but not enough so that they can achieve their full potential over the long term. They’re not given challenging work assignments and full opportunities so that they can give meaningful contributions to the organization. Third, low salary and benefits. This means that if you treat the workers with full respect and give them the chance to perform meaningful work, they will stay in your organization for an inadequate pay package for a good number of years. Surely, this approach has an expiration date of five years at the maximum.

As soon as he has reached his fourth year of service, then chances are, he will start to be visible in the job market searching for the highest bidder, as his basic needs level up to meet the demands of a higher career aspiration, if not family life, or both.

Your success or failure as a people manager depends to a large extent on knowing about individual employee problems at the earliest possible time. In fact, the prospective boss should know it well during the hiring process and before on-boarding.

Don’t wait for the next exit interview. Initiate and maintain a proactive two-way communication process with the employees who may have different needs and wants.

That way, minor issues don’t became major disasters. This is easy to do if only the line supervisors and managers know their responsibility well enough to willingly contribute their thoughts and ideas about the workplace in general and their own job in particular, with the active help of a fully engaged and empowered work force.