U.K Companies Implement Retention Strategies, but Workers Leave Anyway

Why They Leave: Spiraling turnover is a problem in the U.K., too. According to TalentDrain, a British retention and engagement consultancy, 93 percent of organizations have implemented staff retention initiatives during the past year. The efforts zeroed in on three areas: improving communication with employees, making induction and “onboarding” more engaging to new recruits, and promoting employee learning and development. Perhaps the situation will improve in time, but early returns suggest that a lot more work is needed. Despite their best efforts, nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of organizations say continual turnover remains a source of frustration. The reasons employees give for leaving also differ dramatically from the perceptions of human resources practitioners. Uninteresting work is the chief reason employees leave, cited by 25 percent. Another 25 percent blame “lack of teamwork and cooperation,” while 19 percent are driven away by management’s failure to keep promises. About 13 percent were chased away by poor line management, even though this is cited by HR practitioners as one of the top three causes of turnover.