Why Do Employees Really Leave?
July/August 2007
By Debby Cannon, Ph.D., CHE, Director
Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality
Georgia State University
Exit interviews have been a longtime management tool used to analyze the reasons for employee turnover. The typical parting interview entails the exiting employee being interviewed by a member of the management team.
A study reported in the Harvard Business Review found that most people voluntarily leaving their jobs state that the change is for more money or a better opportunity. The study found, however, in follow-up interviews with exiting employees that approximately 88 percent were actually leaving for other reasons.
Based on 20,000 interviews conducted across the nation encompassing many types of industries, the number one reason cited for leaving was the “job or workplace was not as expected.” The second most frequent reason cited was a “mismatch between the job and person.”
These “top two” reasons seem consistent with the highest percentage of turnover typically occurring within the first 90 days of employment. How can a restaurant operation minimize the loss of employees from these most common reasons?
No hiring process is perfectly predictive but there are selection techniques that can help in matching candidates’ expectations, qualifications and traits to open job positions. The following techniques are appropriate for candidates who have passed the initial screening phases and have moved along to the “finalist” stage.
- Take time to describe the job in detail to the applicant. Certainly discuss the positive aspects but do not overlook the challenging and negative factors as well. Talk in detail about scheduling, expected hours and days of work, possible overtime that would be expected and thoroughly discuss all job duties – not just the pleasant tasks. For food servers, what kind of side work is required? Are servers expected to clean the restaurant at the end of the night? If so, what do these tasks involve and how long do they typically take? How are stations assigned? What are the grooming/dress standards?
- Ask existing employees, “What have been the most positive surprises that you have experienced since working here? Negative surprises? What was left out of the interview process that would have been helpful for you to have known before accepting the job?” Also consider adding these questions to the exit interview process to get the perspectives of employees who are leaving.
- Have employees talk with applicants to discuss the job tasks and dynamics of the working team. Again, this should be a positive interaction and should be factual. What are the first few weeks like for a new employee? Is there a training program? For a tipped employee, how is pay handled during the training time? How do people progress up the career ladder with the company? How would employees describe the management/supervisory styles? The benefits of employee involvement in the selection process are two-fold. Employees can provide relevant and helpful information to applicants. Their involvement also creates a greater chance that they will support the new employee and include the newcomer as a team member.
- Show the candidate the work areas. If possible arrange for a job preview involving the candidate shadowing someone in the position being considered -even if for a brief period of time.
- Analyze previous jobs held by the applicant and what type of transitions are involved with the job being considered. For example, if the candidate has always worked in a sedentary job and is moving into a physical, “on your feet” for hours position, how is the person prepared to make this change? If the applicant has always worked day shifts and will be moving to late night work, what changes will be involved to make this a good “match” between person and job?
- In the selection process, ask open-ended behavioral questions that are directly related to required job competencies and are requisites for success? How has the applicant delivered quality customer service in current and past jobs? How has the applicant provided effective lateral or internal service to fellow workers? If this is a job requiring the ability to effectively work under stress, what was a typical stressful day like in the applicant’s background? What was the most stressful day experienced and what did the applicant do in handling the job stress? Probing, behavioral questions should be developed in advance that target the needed abilities and job traits.
- Encourage the applicant to ask questions by a probing inquiry such as, “What questions still remain in your mind about this job?” This open-ended approach tends to be more effective than the closed approach of “Do you have any questions?”
A crucial key in addressing the top reasons employees resign is to avoid employee selection short-cuts. A comprehensive approach, as described above, requires trained hiring officials and sufficient time. The “warm body” syndrome of hiring almost any applicant is likely to back-fire with the same job position open within the next 90 days. This creates the never-ending, dreaded revolving door syndrome that can destroy customer service and ultimately business profitability.
In our next article, techniques to improve the use of exit interviews along with turnover and retention analyses will be discussed as important management tools.
