According to staffing consultant Leigh Branham, author of The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave (Amazon, January 2005)... While managers believe that more than 70% of employees leave for more money, 88% of employees say they leave for reasons other than money. No matter where the truth lies, money plays a key part in the transaction, but not where you might think.

The HIDDEN Intangibles...

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What are the key reasons why employees leave?

The 10 most frequently mentioned issues that employees say companies do poorly are:

• Poor management--uncaring and unprofessional managers; overworking staff; no respect, not listening, putting people into the wrong seats on the bus; speed over quality; poor manager selection processes.

• Lack of career growth and advancement opportunities--no "perceivable" career paths; not posting job openings or filling from within; favoritism or unfair promotions.

• Poor communications--problems communicating top-down and between departments; after mergers; between facilities.

• Pay--paid under-market or less than contributions warrant; pay inequities; slow raises; favoritism for bonuses/raises; ineffective appraisals.

• Lack of recognition--that says it all.

• Poor senior leadership--not listening, asking, or investing in employees; unresponsiveness and isolation; mixed messages.

• Lack of training--nonexistent or superficial training; nothing for new hires, managers, or to move up.

• Excessive workload--doing more with less; sacrificing quality and customer service for numbers.

• Lack of tools and resources--insufficient, malfunctioning, outdated, equipment/supplies; overwork without relief.

• Lack of teamwork--poor coworker cooperation/commitment; lack of interdepartmental coordination.

I think we've heard most of these before. However a new book offers some new advice.

According to staffing consultant Leigh Branham, author of The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave (Amazon, January 2005)... While managers believe that more than 70% of employees leave for more money, 88% of employees say they leave for reasons other than money. No matter where the truth lies, money plays a key part in the transaction, but not where you might think.

The HIDDEN Intangibles...

Acc

• Lack of career growth and advancement opportunities--no "perceivable" career paths; not posting job openings or filling from within; favoritism or unfair promotions.

• Poor communications--problems communicating top-down and between departments; after mergers; between facilities.

• Pay--paid under-market or less than contributions warrant; pay inequities; slow raises; favoritism for bonuses/raises; ineffective appraisals.

• Lack of recognition--that says it all.

• Poor senior leadership--not listening, asking, or investing in employees; unresponsiveness and isolation; mixed messages.

• Lack of training--nonexistent or superficial training; nothing for new hires, managers, or to move up.

• Excessive workload--doing more with less; sacrificing quality and customer service for numbers.

• Lack of tools and resources--insufficient, malfunctioning, outdated, equipment/supplies; overwork without relief.

• Lack of teamwork--poor coworker cooperation/commitment; lack of interdepartmental coordination.

I think we've heard most of these before. However a new book offers some new advice.

According to staffing consultant Leigh Branham, author of The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave (Amazon, January 2005)... While managers believe that more than 70% of employees leave for more money, 88% of employees say they leave for reasons other than money. No matter where the truth lies, money plays a key part in the transaction, but not where you might think.

The HIDDEN Intangibles...

Acc

• Lack of recognition--that says it all.

• Poor senior leadership--not listening, asking, or investing in employees; unresponsiveness and isolation; mixed messages.

• Lack of training--nonexistent or superficial training; nothing for new hires, managers, or to move up.

• Excessive workload--doing more with less; sacrificing quality and customer service for numbers.

• Lack of tools and resources--insufficient, malfunctioning, outdated, equipment/supplies; overwork without relief.

• Lack of teamwork--poor coworker cooperation/commitment; lack of interdepartmental coordination.

I think we've heard most of these before. However a new book offers some new advice.

According to staffing consultant Leigh Branham, author of The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave (Amazon, January 2005)... While managers believe that more than 70% of employees leave for more money, 88% of employees say they leave for reasons other than money. No matter where the truth lies, money plays a key part in the transaction, but not where you might think.

The HIDDEN Intangibles...

Acc

• Lack of tools and resources--insufficient, malfunctioning, outdated, equipment/supplies; overwork without relief.

• Lack of teamwork--poor coworker cooperation/commitment; lack of interdepartmental coordination.

I think we've heard most of these before. However a new book offers some new advice.

According to staffing consultant Leigh Branham, author of The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave (Amazon, January 2005)... While managers believe that more than 70% of employees leave for more money, 88% of employees say they leave for reasons other than money. No matter where the truth lies, money plays a key part in the transaction, but not where you might think.

The HIDDEN Intangibles...

Acc

According to staffing consultant Leigh Branham, author of The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave (Amazon, January 2005)... While managers believe that more than 70% of employees leave for more money, 88% of employees say they leave for reasons other than money. No matter where the truth lies, money plays a key part in the transaction, but not where you might think.

The HIDDEN Intangibles...

According to the Saratoga Institute, whose figures Branham used in his book, the average cost of losing an employee equals that employee's' annual salary. Do the math: A company with 300 employees, an average annual employee salary of $35,000, and a turnover rate of just 15% is losing $1,575,000 per year just in turnover costs. You can't keep everyone from leaving, but if you could cut your turnover rate by two-thirds, you could save a million dollars per year.

And so it's mission critical that you identify and implement a strong employee retention program right now and stop the bleeding.

Let's talk about how to keep your people happy (and none of these by the way have anything to do with more money). Here are the top 5 ways:

1. Knowledge is power. While I firmly believe that applied knowledge is more important than knowledge alone... employees who are "kept in the loop" about the state of their business and company, feel they are treated with respect. If they understand the company's strategy, they feel more like they're a part of the team and not just an employee.

2. Have they bought into your product(s). This is critical. If they don't believe in your goals, objectives and more importantly... your product or service - what it is that they sell... then how can they succeed? Having them believe in what it is you do as a company is absolutely mission critical, so you need to have a plan to get them there.

3. An effective and empowering training program. Without one, you're sunk. When the training program is good, you're people are given the right amount of reinforcement, through repetition and frequency that empowers t