Do you ever wonder why your employees change jobs? Sure you do, but it’s probably not for the reasons you think. According to Watson Wyatt’s Strategic Rewards report, employers’ perceptions of why employees leave are notably different from employees’ actual reasons for leaving.
In the study, which gathered responses from 175 companies throughout Europe, employers perceived career development opportunities(49%), promotion opportunities(48%)and base pay(43%)as the main reasons why employees leave. Employees, on the other hand, quoted increasing stress levels(35%), uncompetitive base pay(34%)and lack of promotion opportunities(27%)as their top reasons.
Carole Hathaway, European head of strategic reward at Watson Wyatt, said that companies are putting more importance on long-term career planning than employees are. This doesn’t mean, though, she added, that employers are focused on the wrong things(career development, promotion and pay)to attract and retain employees; employers just need to focus more on “immediate needs,” such as the nature of the work and stress.
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