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McKinsey Reveals: Leaders Are Wrong About Why Employees Quit

6 points by Tomte 2y ago

JohnFen 2y ago
Nice to see someone calling this out. For my part, I have never quit a job over compensation issues. In fact, a couple of times, I've quit positions in order to take positions at other companies that offered less compensation. I quit jobs when, for one reason or another, they begin making me actively unhappy even when I'm off the clock, or (more usually) I don't feel that my skills are improving and expanding at my current job.
- zer8k 2y ago
  It must be nice to not ever worry about compensation. I havent gotten a raise in 2 years and there's no promotions available despite work enforcing horrid on-call and "team player" work hours. I personally cannot wait for the market to improve so I can be compensated fairly. Pizza parties while the product, sales, etc teams get massive bonuses because "studies show employees wont ask for more money when they're appreciated" is a hyper-dense sphere of pure bullshit. When inflation stops effecting me and I can buy food with appreciation I'll care more about it. The best way to appreciate an employee is cold, hard cash.
  - mercwear 2y ago
    You can find a new job if you just start looking today, if you just "wait for the market to improve" you will always be behind the pack and feeling "stuck".
  - JohnFen 2y ago
    > It must be nice to not ever worry about compensation You're making an incorrect assumption here. This has been my pattern even when I had to worry a lot about compensation. There are worse things than being destitute.
  - zaphar 2y ago
    You may have already tried this and not found success but in case you haven't: Nearly all of my biggest career advancements have been the result of a job change not a promotion internally. I don't know your personal situation, however, I do think more people are capable of finding themselves a better position with more opportunity than they think they are. If you think you are stuck and that's stopping you from looking for better opportunities elsewhere maybe you are have more opportunities than you think you do.
transcriptase 2y ago
So people are quitting because of the decisions executives make at the recommendation of McKinsey et al. I have a hard time believing any study will reliably capture a long-time and competent employee quitting from fear or loss of loyalty after their friends and colleagues were laid off en masse by consulting firm excel formulas.
jameskilton 2y ago
MISPWOSO: The McKinsey Institute for Slowly and Painfully Working Out the Surprisingly Obvious. - slightly edited with respect to the late and great Douglas Adams.
paxys 2y ago
> The data speaks loud and clear. People are eagerly searching for meaning, belonging, holistic care, and appreciation at work. > Yet the factors employers think are important are more transactional in nature—things like compensation and flexibility. Company pays shitty consulting firm to "study" and conclude that they don't need to pay employees more. Shitty consulting firm does exactly that. Pizza parties for everyone!
- creesch 2y ago
  Not entirely, at least that is not how I read it. Although I agree, I initially got the same impression. Then I stumbled upon this sentence. > The study reveals that employers must treat things like fair compensation and flexibility as the new bare minimum. The way I read it, it basically says "you can't pay your employees well and treat them like shit. You need to pay them well _and_ treat them well".
  - me_me_me 2y ago
    Oh wow, I am glad they paid millions in order to reveals this unexpected conclusion
datavirtue 2y ago
"By becoming students of our employees’ needs, then devoting ourselves to improving the employee experience." Management, especially executive management, has no idea how to do this nor do they have the ambition to, same for HR. Years ago you didn't have diverse workforces and you had stability, both as defaults. Now the workforce is diverse as hell and there is zero stability. My current employer is touting the ESOP as a great benefit. It takes a year to get in, and five more before you vest. The grim reality is that most of the gen-z that get hired in are going to get laid off or move on before they vest. ESOP is a gimmick to make you think your employment is going to be stable. It's a lie.
- zer8k 2y ago
  HR is a job program for the bottom 3rd of the IQ curve.
  - datavirtue 2y ago
    I lump them in with anyone that doesn't generate revenue. In other words, the people my output also has to pay for. Bring on the AI. Speaking of AI, our PM was in my office with me and my boss. He asked if we need to hire another dev. Before I could open my mouth my boss declared that we eliminated that position with AI. I'm about to leave and they don't know it, yet. I was going to suggest hiring the junior dev.
josefritzishere 2y ago
This is surprisingly honest for McKinsey. You have to pay people fairly and treat them well? Who would have thought that?
motohagiography 2y ago
if staff are leaving for lack of meaning, there may be a related factor. pandemic policy wiped out an entire layer of the economy, where the only bars and restaurants that survived were polarized between well capitalized franchises and absolute bottom of the barrel money laundering operations, and the part of the service business that was cool and desirable where people wanted to work- and was a source of local belonging and meaning for staff- all went out of business. those businesses were culture. the people working in indie cafes were not the people working at starbucks, and the people at the fashionable neighbourhood restaurant didn't move to a chain or sports bar, they just left the industry. people who can afford to leave do, and the ones that remain aren't the people owners want to grow a business with. there are some other elephants in the room that mckinsey is paid so very well to talk around, but even their view comes down to the reason people aren't working in service roles is because there has ceased to be opportunity and dignity in them. between the general class of recently appointed managers and the increasing social desperation of potential employees, closing all those independent businesses and flooding cities with desperate people has caused the bottom to drop out of the middle class and, yeah, the people you thought wanted to work for you are getting the f' out of dodge.
bryanlarsen 2y ago
The way I heard it phrased: "people join a company, people quit a boss".
- JohnFen 2y ago
  Yes, and sometimes it's even true, but sometimes it isn't.
BrandoElFollito 2y ago
I like such studies, a lot. They state the obvious (like the really obvious anyone working can voice out) but since they come from a consulting company, they suddenly become important and need to be addressed. Whether the addressing works is another story, but when you say it it has zero value and when they say it it is the greatest discovery after induction plates. I often use consultants to say the word of god to management - actually the word of me I want to be heard. It is a pity we trash money this way though.

6 points by Tomte 2y ago

Nice to see someone calling this out. For my part, I have never quit a job over compensation issues. In fact, a couple of times, I've quit positions in order to take positions at other companies that offered less compensation. I quit jobs when, for one reason or another, they begin making me actively unhappy even when I'm off the clock, or (more usually) I don't feel that my skills are improving and expanding at my current job.

zer8k 2y ago
It must be nice to not ever worry about compensation. I havent gotten a raise in 2 years and there's no promotions available despite work enforcing horrid on-call and "team player" work hours. I personally cannot wait for the market to improve so I can be compensated fairly. Pizza parties while the product, sales, etc teams get massive bonuses because "studies show employees wont ask for more money when they're appreciated" is a hyper-dense sphere of pure bullshit. When inflation stops effecting me and I can buy food with appreciation I'll care more about it. The best way to appreciate an employee is cold, hard cash.
- mercwear 2y ago
  You can find a new job if you just start looking today, if you just "wait for the market to improve" you will always be behind the pack and feeling "stuck".
- JohnFen 2y ago
  > It must be nice to not ever worry about compensation You're making an incorrect assumption here. This has been my pattern even when I had to worry a lot about compensation. There are worse things than being destitute.
- zaphar 2y ago
  You may have already tried this and not found success but in case you haven't: Nearly all of my biggest career advancements have been the result of a job change not a promotion internally. I don't know your personal situation, however, I do think more people are capable of finding themselves a better position with more opportunity than they think they are. If you think you are stuck and that's stopping you from looking for better opportunities elsewhere maybe you are have more opportunities than you think you do.

transcriptase 2y ago

So people are quitting because of the decisions executives make at the recommendation of McKinsey et al. I have a hard time believing any study will reliably capture a long-time and competent employee quitting from fear or loss of loyalty after their friends and colleagues were laid off en masse by consulting firm excel formulas.

jameskilton 2y ago

MISPWOSO: The McKinsey Institute for Slowly and Painfully Working Out the Surprisingly Obvious. - slightly edited with respect to the late and great Douglas Adams.

paxys 2y ago

> The data speaks loud and clear. People are eagerly searching for meaning, belonging, holistic care, and appreciation at work. > Yet the factors employers think are important are more transactional in nature—things like compensation and flexibility. Company pays shitty consulting firm to "study" and conclude that they don't need to pay employees more. Shitty consulting firm does exactly that. Pizza parties for everyone!

creesch 2y ago
Not entirely, at least that is not how I read it. Although I agree, I initially got the same impression. Then I stumbled upon this sentence. > The study reveals that employers must treat things like fair compensation and flexibility as the new bare minimum. The way I read it, it basically says "you can't pay your employees well and treat them like shit. You need to pay them well _and_ treat them well".
- me_me_me 2y ago
  Oh wow, I am glad they paid millions in order to reveals this unexpected conclusion

datavirtue 2y ago

"By becoming students of our employees’ needs, then devoting ourselves to improving the employee experience." Management, especially executive management, has no idea how to do this nor do they have the ambition to, same for HR. Years ago you didn't have diverse workforces and you had stability, both as defaults. Now the workforce is diverse as hell and there is zero stability. My current employer is touting the ESOP as a great benefit. It takes a year to get in, and five more before you vest. The grim reality is that most of the gen-z that get hired in are going to get laid off or move on before they vest. ESOP is a gimmick to make you think your employment is going to be stable. It's a lie.

zer8k 2y ago
HR is a job program for the bottom 3rd of the IQ curve.
- datavirtue 2y ago
  I lump them in with anyone that doesn't generate revenue. In other words, the people my output also has to pay for. Bring on the AI. Speaking of AI, our PM was in my office with me and my boss. He asked if we need to hire another dev. Before I could open my mouth my boss declared that we eliminated that position with AI. I'm about to leave and they don't know it, yet. I was going to suggest hiring the junior dev.

josefritzishere 2y ago

This is surprisingly honest for McKinsey. You have to pay people fairly and treat them well? Who would have thought that?

motohagiography 2y ago

if staff are leaving for lack of meaning, there may be a related factor. pandemic policy wiped out an entire layer of the economy, where the only bars and restaurants that survived were polarized between well capitalized franchises and absolute bottom of the barrel money laundering operations, and the part of the service business that was cool and desirable where people wanted to work- and was a source of local belonging and meaning for staff- all went out of business. those businesses were culture. the people working in indie cafes were not the people working at starbucks, and the people at the fashionable neighbourhood restaurant didn't move to a chain or sports bar, they just left the industry. people who can afford to leave do, and the ones that remain aren't the people owners want to grow a business with. there are some other elephants in the room that mckinsey is paid so very well to talk around, but even their view comes down to the reason people aren't working in service roles is because there has ceased to be opportunity and dignity in them. between the general class of recently appointed managers and the increasing social desperation of potential employees, closing all those independent businesses and flooding cities with desperate people has caused the bottom to drop out of the middle class and, yeah, the people you thought wanted to work for you are getting the f' out of dodge.

bryanlarsen 2y ago

The way I heard it phrased: "people join a company, people quit a boss".

JohnFen 2y ago
Yes, and sometimes it's even true, but sometimes it isn't.

BrandoElFollito 2y ago

I like such studies, a lot. They state the obvious (like the really obvious anyone working can voice out) but since they come from a consulting company, they suddenly become important and need to be addressed. Whether the addressing works is another story, but when you say it it has zero value and when they say it it is the greatest discovery after induction plates. I often use consultants to say the word of god to management - actually the word of me I want to be heard. It is a pity we trash money this way though.