As an employer or HR manager, it’s a sad, but often inevitable, fact that an employee will hand in their resignations over course of your career.

How you deal with it, and how to prevent an exodus of your skilled staff, is the subject of a new report released by international recruitment specialist Randstad.

Randstad’s latest employer branding research, the top five reasons behind your loyal staff electing to depart your organisation are:

  1.  Lack of compensation: Although you might like to think you’re staff are the most loyal cohort you’ll ever assemble; monetary compensation is the main motivating behind their choice to stay. As an employer or HR manager, it’s your task to constantly assess if your workers are receiving the going market rate for their skills. Using annual reviews to ensure that their labours are being duly rewarded is a key way to show your employees that their bank balances are being looked after.
  2. Lack of career opportunities: Ever the bug bear of the employer, the question of career progression is a constant factor on the mind of those in your organisation. Even if the pay is right, the atmosphere is close to paradise and they enjoy all the support of management, your loyal workers may still elect to depart if they feel they’re not going anywhere. Be sure to offer career progression in the form of training or promotion to keep them happy.
  3. Unpleasant work atmosphere: Sometimes the most important, yet difficult to cultivate, aspect of employment, the workplace atmosphere is crucial to keeping your workers happy. Anything from your management style through to the office décor can effect their general happiness with a working environment. Be mindful to maintain clear lines of communication with your employees in informal ways as well as the regular, official ‘temperature check’ interviews. Allow them to speak candidly and openly about whatever is on their mind without them fearing reprisals.
  4. Lack of support from management: Now, you might like to think that you’re the greatest leader of men since Napoleon, but the reality is that unless your workers feel valued, they’re not going to stick around. It’s crucial to maintain a good working relationship with your employees by keeping clear and open lines of communication open.
  5. Lack of work life balance: A remarkable 83 per cent of Australian workers feel like their work-life balance is off kilter, so it comes as little surprise that a desire to improve the situation is one of the main contributing factors in their decision to leave. If you offer improved flexibility by allowing employees to work at home, give them flexible hours and the opportunity for part time work, you’ll find your employees to be significantly more likely to stick around.