Why Do Good Employees Really Leave? Let's Talk About the Boss Factor

"Good employees leave the organization because of their boss." This is the main reason for high attrition in the organization. I would like to hear your suggestions and reasons behind it. Please share your views on it.

Regards, Jaimin B.

I do not agree 100%. Take the exit interview of the employees who are leaving the organization. At present, the trend is that people do not want to continue with one organization. Nowadays, opportunities are abundant.

Correct!

Boss is not the only reason; there are many other factors that lead to attrition. These include:

- Employee attitude
- Working group
- Working environment (which I believe people create themselves)
- Other job openings
- Social factors
- Need Hierarchy (Maslow's theory)

Regards,
Ravindra R

Yes, I totally agree that the boss is the only reason for people quitting. I am a living example. I was really happy in this organization I work until my new boss joined us. Now it's time I leave.

"Good employees leave the organization because of their boss."

In every organization, the boss wants an employee who does what he says without any decision-making. This person does not have any knowledge about what his job responsibilities are, but every management team takes someone who says "yes sir... yes sir" without any decision-making. It's not a professional way to hire such a person.

So, good employees leave their job because of the boss (management) person.

Dear Jaimin,

As Sarvang says, it is quite right. But what I understand is "Employee leaves his BOSS, not the company" because in the professional world: "the BOSS is always right" and nobody is there to argue on this saying...! Good day...!

Dear friends,

I don't agree, as explained in my earlier post under the same thread. As Anand said, there are a number of opportunities, and thus employees leave for that, not because of the boss. Come on, try to understand the fact!

Regards,
Ravindra R

But there are many live examples with me which clearly show the fact. The reason is not the opportunities but the attitude towards the employee is more concerning. In the exit process, most employees do not show this fact, but the reason comes as my question.

You need to get the facts first. Use exit interviews by all means, but also set up "Skip" meetings so you can realistically gauge just what the current feeling is. Then if it is the boss at fault, he needs to be told. Do not just go blundering in with no solid evidence to support your case. People always complain about the boss... (s)he's an easy target.

Subject: For the Boss

Employees of a company are all worried. Some are roaming around, some are in loud discussions during office time.

Some trainees, who had just joined, notice this and enquire about what happened to a senior employee. They ask, "What's going on?"

"Terrorists have kidnapped our boss. They're asking for Rs. 500 crores ransom; otherwise, they're going to douse him with petrol and set him on fire. We're going from desk to desk, taking up a collection."

One trainee asks, "How much is everyone giving, on average?"

"About 10 liters."

Dear all,

As said, it is easy to target the boss. This is because it's the boss who restricts us from gossiping and time passing. If he does so, it is only because he wants to get the work done. If people understand their responsibility and do their work with honesty, cooperate with the immediate boss/superior, the boss will be relieved from pressures and thus can then spend the quality work share.

Regards,

Ravindra R

Hi all!

I'm a new member with around 10 months of experience in this field. My core proficiency is recruitment, and I recently received a double promotion in my company.

In this short period, I noticed that having a good boss can be very beneficial, as you hardly need any motivation. When I started, I began from scratch, and it's thanks to my boss that I am now handling my company's recruitment at all levels. I have also observed people leaving because of their bosses, including my own boss, who serves as a good example.

So, it is indeed correct to say that people often leave their jobs because of their bosses.

Dear Jaimin,

Absolutely, I agree with you. An employee leaves the boss, not a company. We have to start a campaign for changing the attitude of the boss. Bosses always act like "Sethji"; they always expect "JI-HAJURI" from their employees.

In rare cases and in rare companies, we find bosses who are supportive, motivators, creators, directors, and GURUs for junior staff. This is because they know that "they were once juniors too (just like in the show 'Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi')."

Meanwhile, bosses are often the main reason for employee attrition. Other reasons could include salary hikes, better prospects, improved perks, and larger firms.

Thanks and regards,

Hello Ronak,

It was a great effort to highlight the reasons to leave a job!

But, dear friend, here is what we are saying: what if the management is good, but the reporting manager is not supportive?

For example, if my reporting manager does not favor me, and the management asks him if he is satisfied with his junior, he will say NO. In this case, there is less scope for promotion, increment, and progress.

So, in this situation, what can we say? Now, if the employee leaves, we will only say he leaves his boss (reporting manager) and not the company.

Dear All,

Let us understand why the person wants to change the job. There may be various reasons, including the possibility that the boss does not want the individual to grow at the pace they are interested in, or the organization does not offer the potential for growth within the company.

The role of a good boss is to groom the candidate to fit the organizational requirements and to also show them a career path. If this is not done, then the boss is solely responsible.

Anil

I would not agree completely. This could be one of the factors which make people quit, but there are other factors like raise, government jobs, convenience - getting jobs near home, five days working compared to six days working, job pressure - quantity of job, restrictions - using personal mobiles, surfing on sites, etc. All individuals are different, so the priorities are also different, and the factors that affect them and become a priority have to be different. The reason cannot be the same for all resignations.

These are completely my thoughts.

Thanks

Hi Jaiminbhai,

I agree with you that most of the employees leave because of their boss. If the boss is good and an employee is having fewer benefits, he/she will stay for a longer period.

Thanks,
Ansari

Hi,

I agree that employees leave because of their bosses, and I am another example. As highlighted by Shaival, if the reporting manager, and also his immediate supervisor, is not cooperative, it becomes difficult to work in such an environment. In this case, even a skip-level is not going to help. Thanks to these bosses, all I got was no hike, average appraisal ratings, no motivation, and no recognition for the work. The moral of the story is bosses are the reason for an employee to leave.