Oceanic Pharmachem Private Limited (OPPL) believes that loss of good employees is costly and disruptive and can only be resolved by managerial attitude.

When managers complain about their best employees leaving, and blame the turnover problems on various reasons, they ignore the crux of the matter: people don’t leave jobs; they leave managers.

This inevitable situation can easily be avoided, if a new perspective and extra efforts are made by the managers.

Below are listed the worst things that managers do, which make good people quit:

> Overworking People

Nothing burns good employees out quite like overworking them. It’s so tempting to make the best people work hard that managers frequently fall into this trap. Overworking good employees is perplexing; it makes them feel that they are being punished for great performance, which then makes the exercise counter-productive. New research shows that productivity per hour declines sharply when the workweek exceeds 50 hours, and productivity drops off so much after 55 hours that nothing is gained out of working more.

If talented employees are expected to perform more, then their status has to be improved as well. Talented employees will take on a bigger workload, but they won’t stay if their job suffocates them in the process. Raises, promotions, and title-changes are all acceptable ways to increase workload. If workload is simply increased because people are talented, without changing anything, they will seek another job that gives them what they deserve.

> Not Recognizing Contributions or Rewarding Good Work

It’s easy to underestimate the power of encouragement, especially with top performers who are intrinsically motivated. Everyone likes appreciation, none more so than those who work hard and give their best. Managers need to communicate with their people to find out what makes them feel good (raise or public recognition) and then to reward them for a job well done. With top performers, this will happen often if it is done right.

> Not Caring about Employees

More than half of people who leave their jobs do so because of their relationship with their boss. Smart companies make certain their managers know how to balance being professional with being human. These are the bosses who celebrate an employee’s success, empathize with those going through hard times, and challenge people, even when it hurts. Bosses who fail to really care will always have high turnover rates. It’s impossible to work hard for someone when they aren’t personally involved and don’t care about anything other than the production yield.

> Not Honouring Commitments

Making promises to people places a manager on the fine line that lies between making them very happy and watching them walk out the door. When a commitment is upheld, a manager rises in the eyes of the employees due to the assurance of trustworthiness and honourability. But when commitments are disregarded, the boss is viewed as slimy, uncaring, and disrespectful.

> Hiring and Promoting Wrong People

Good, hard-working employees want to work with like-minded professionals. When managers don’t do the hard work of hiring good people, it’s a major demotivation for those stuck working alongside them. Promoting the wrong people is even worse. When a sincere employee works hard only to get passed over for a promotion that’s given to someone who glad-handed their way to the top, it’s a massive insult; which is reason enough for good people to leave.

> Not Allowing People Pursue their Passions

Talented employees are passionate. Providing opportunities for them to pursue their passions improves their productivity and job satisfaction. But many managers want people to work within a little box, since they fear that productivity will decline if they let people expand their focus. This fear is unfounded, as studies show that people who are able to pursue their passions at work, experience creativity flows and euphoric states of mind that makes them more productive.

> Failing to Develop People’s Skills

When managers experience employee inattention, they try to excuse themselves with various reasons. Good managers can easily manage any employee, no matter how talented, if they pay attention by constantly listening and giving feedback. With a talented employee, it’s up to the manager to keep finding areas in which they can improve to expand their skill set. The most talented employees want feedback and it is the manager’s job to provide it. Otherwise, the best people will grow bored and complacent.

> Failing to Engage People’s Creativity

The most talented employees seek to improve everything. If this ability to change things is taken away, because the manager is only comfortable with the status quo, this makes them hate their jobs. Caging up this innate desire to create not only limits them, it limits organizational growth.

> Failing to Challenge People Intellectually

Great bosses challenge their employees to accomplish things that seem inconceivable at first. Instead of setting mundane, incremental goals, they set lofty goals that push people out of their comfort zones. Then, good managers do everything in their power to help them succeed. When talented and intelligent people find themselves doing things that are too easy or boring, they seek other jobs that will challenge their intellects.

Learning the Lesson

If an organization wants its best people to stay, it needs to think carefully about how their managers treat them. While good employees are as tough as nails, their talent gives them an abundance of options. Successful organizations need to ensure and make efforts that such employee want to work only for them.