Employees leave companies for different reasons. I asked people to finish this statement about a job they quit: “I knew it was time to leave when…“. Here’s what they shared with me:
“…when the Regional President came in my office yelling at me with the door open where an entire department could hear for doing a job I was instructed to do by the Corporate President of Human Resources.” Loretta V.
“…when my boss threw a pile of unorganized papers all over my desk and said, ‘I’m too busy. Clean this up.'” Emily C.
“…when my boss literally threw a telephone on the floor in a fit of rage.” Cris W.
“…when a high-ranking manager from a very reputable company shouted at me and a fellow co-worker for a choice that we both made—in front of customers and other employees.” Cheryl K.
“…when my boss told me that she didn’t like me. [It] was personal and had nothing to do with my work. Prior to that, she had asked me to make copies of copyrighted materials and I offered other options more compatible with our organizational values and culture.” Grace W.
“…when sleeping on a cramped, sweaty train for another hour was preferable to turning up at the office for yet another pointless breakfast meeting with my former manager.” Michael H.
“…when I’d rather listen to nails on a chalkboard instead of listening to The Boss.” Cheryl
“…when I rated my boss low on INTEGRITY on an employee survey. She called us all in a room and yelled at us. She said, ‘You don’t even know what the word integrity means!'” Mona T.
“…when my primary recruitment partner shockingly and unexpectedly passed away. Thirty-six hours after her death, I received a call from the HR leader in my area. ‘Sorry to hear of her death-(without a breath)-can you confirm if you will have a final slate of candidates for me by Friday?’ The fact that this so called leader cared so little for the fact that my partner had died was the end. I knew this was a culture that was never going to change.” Darci S.
Maybe you don’t have engaged employees because your employees are spoiled, pampered prima donnas. Or maybe it’s because you’re an ass.
I never cease to be amazed at how many leaders and managers are so bad at dealing with people. In one of my former roles, I was a Senior Vice President and was treated very much the same as one of the respondents in your article. The CEO who normally worked in another office, appeared at our site, called me into a conference room and proceeded to loudly accuse me of several unethical behaviors, none of which were true.
But it did not matter. Once treated with that degree of disrespect, I could and would never work for or with that individual again. I suspect my ensuing departure was precisely what he wanted as it afforded them an immediate increase in profitability as my position was eliminated after it was vacated.
It is a shame, because I would have left under much more pleasant terms if he had respectfully asked.
Interesting how many years we have worked to improve leadership with such minimal progress.
I agree with your summary, Gordon. Some organizations are very short-sighted. They turn a quick profit by losing employees…but it comes at a great price. The employees left behind are not loyal or motivated, and they will not give their employers the discretionary effort needed to create outstanding results.