'I'm Outta Here!' Why 2 Million Americans Quit Every Month (And 5 Steps to Turn the Epidemic Around)

I recently discovered an alarming fact—even in a climate of business uncertainty and an unemployment rate of 7.8 percent, more than 2 million Americans are voluntarily leaving their jobs every month. The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics calls the category “Quits.” While the percentage of overall turnover has remained relatively steady at approximately 1.69 percent per month over the past decade, the number of voluntary “quits” is continuing to grow and will not be decreasing anytime soon, according to the bureau.

Even in a down economy 2 million Americans quit their job every month.

Why are so many people quitting? A report from Grow America compiled research from several sources. In truth, the majority of people, quitting or not, are currently unhappy in their corporate jobs. A study by Harris Interactive indicates a full 74 percent of people would today consider finding a new job. The most recent Mercer‘s What’s Working study says 32 percent are actively looking. The reasons for their unhappiness:
A recent study by Accenture reports:
1) They don’t like their boss (31%),
2) A lack of empowerment (31%),
3) Internal politics (35%) and
4) Lack of recognition (43%).
Many cite the desire to become their own boss. A Business Insider survey of 225 executives reports 22 percent want to launch their own companies. Why are they willing to make the sacrifice and take the risk? They want to run an enterprise their way. Deep in their hearts, they feel and know they will enjoy more satisfaction and fulfillment by establishing a healthier business culture. Now let’s add a fifth reason of employee dissatisfaction. Author Melissa Llarena of Career Outcomes Matter reports even higher numbers, particularly for Generation X employees. She cites the biggest reason for “quits” is that employees no longer trust corporations. To wit, nearly 40 percent of men and 25 percent of women want to become their own boss, she says (54% of Millenials, 46% of GenY, 35% of Gen X-ers and 21% of Baby Boomers, by age).
Do you see what I’m seeing? Corporate employees are looking for a better working environment. Is this alarming? It should be to managers who need a talented team to accomplish corporate goals. The answer to employees saying, “I’m outta here!” is for management to thoughtfully and sincerely establish an employee-focused culture. Please consider my recommendations, as follows:

1. Leaders, take care of your employees. 

When your employees say to themselves and others, “Where’s the love?” you’ve got a problem. Do you know what they are missing? Do you know what they want to be engaged and happy? I suggest you sit down with them and ask. Generally, they will tell you: a) I want to feel respected; b) pay me what I’m worth, and when I exceed expectations, share the wealth; c) be kind and considerate; d) let me fail, try and learn; and e) let me grow and develop my skills. There’s more—go find out what’s on employees’ minds and then respond accordingly.


2. Leaders, empower your people.
Employees thrive when they are given a sense of ownership to accomplish their work with fewer approvals and checkpoints, and with a smaller degree of intervention and oversight. Company leadership and workers both succeed when employees are allowed to own and solve problems in an innovative way. Giving someone the opportunity to “break the mold” and create new ways to address a challenge is highly fulfilling.
To every degree that a company can make its executives and employees an “enterprise of one,” they can increasingly “become their own boss” without having to leave the organization (or spend the majority of their workdays wishing they could). In essence, corporate leadership can still achieve productivity and happily engaged employees by offering them more latitude in how employees accomplish company and personal goals. For example, must every employee’s workday start at 8 and end at 5? Could a working parent start their workday later or accomplish a portion of their workday or workweek from home? To every degree a company can allow individuals to accomplish their important goals in a more flexible way, productivity can increase, but satisfaction and happiness in the job can dramatically increase as well. 

3. Leaders, eliminate the negative politics in your organization. 
Managers have the power to abolish an individual’s or group’s counterculture comprised of unwanted agendas, attitudes and behaviors that pit individuals and cliques against other workers. Leaders need to know when bad politics are causing pain and frustration among the troops. Your job is to identify the issue and act boldly to declare it unacceptable. Stop it by confronting it. Stop it by telling the leaders of the pack to cease and desist. Tell them the behavior will end or they should look for another place to work. Your team has to know you are establishing a culture without disruptive politics and that this norm is non-negotiable. 

4. Leaders, be trustworthy. 
Trustworthiness does not happen overnight. Leaders earn it over time based on their positive personal attitudes, beliefs and behaviors towards others. Managers who are deserving of trust are dependable, reliable, honest, forthright, truthful and ethical. They care for people and exhibit an openness and transparency on all interpersonal relationship topics. All levels of employees are drawn to leaders who are genuine and honorable. These managers are beloved and praised. Conversely, employees flee when managers are unfair, lie, cheat, offend and deceive.

5. Leaders, recognize your people.  
All employees like to be honored for their accomplishments. Feedback, real time, from management on job performance, is not only instructive but rewarding to employees. Telling workers their efforts are exemplary and outstanding sends a clear message they are valued and appreciated. When we are recognized for a job well done and in view of our peers, our job satisfaction and engagement levels are significantly increased. Once honored, we tend to be even more industrious. Genuine praise is a powerful motivator.
Do you recognize your own company or even yourself in these issues? If so, act quickly to turn this negative trend back around. If you don’t, both you and your company will be bearing the costs.
What has your own experience been in the current epidemic of employee discontent? What steps have you taken to negate it? I look forward to hearing your own stories, and as always, I welcome your ideas and thoughts. To see the full report from Grow America on why 2 million Americans leave their jobs each month, click here.

You can contact me at @AskAlanEHall or via my personal website, www.AlanEHall.com.