By Andrew Chamberlain
In a new study, Glassdoor data scientist Morgan Smart and I looked at more than 5,000 job transitions from a sample of thousands of résumés shared by job seekers on Glassdoor from 2007 to 2016. Among the factors that drive employee turnover:
- MOBILITY. Workers who stay longer in the same job without a title change are significantly more likely to leave for another company. By providing clear paths for employees and moving them through job titles on a regular basis, employers can help boost perceived career opportunities.
- PAY. If managers don’t offer meaningful promotions, in responsibilities, as well as pay, employees are more likely to look elsewhere.
- CULTURE. Employees who see clear career paths for themselves and who feel committed to a company with a positive workplace culture are less likely to leave for their next role.
Some workplace factors don’t seem to matter for employee turnover. The first is the quality of a company’s senior leadership. Even the most inspiring CEOs may not increase worker loyalty if individual employees feel that their careers have stagnated.
The second is work-life balance. While it certainly contributes to employee satisfaction, good work-life balance doesn’t stop people from leaving if their prospects for advancement are better elsewhere.
On average, we find workers earn a 5.2-percent raise in base pay each time they move to a new role. But more often than not, employees find it necessary to leave to an entirely new employer to achieve that career progression: Among the résumés we examined, 73 percent of job transitions were workers leaving their employer, while just 27 percent stayed for their next role.
That high rate of employee attrition suggests an opportunity for human-resources managers. There is room in today’s labor market for greater reliance on internal transitions.
For recruiters, our results suggest that the following employees are likely to be more receptive to inquiries: candidates who have stagnated in roles for a year or more, those who are underpriced relative to the market and those who work for companies with low culture ratings.
Andrew Chamberlain is chief economist at jobs site Glassdoor.