Opinion: Employees leave managers, not companies

By Jackie Kirabo 

There is no single reason as to why employees leave companies. Employees quit jobs for among other reasons, career and professional growth, financial growth and change of career path.

However, a bad manager is one of the most common reasons employees quit. If your supervisor makes your work environment distasteful, it is only a matter of time before it wears you down and makes what would otherwise be a perfectly fine job, nightmarish.

Research done by Hogan Assessments showed that 75% of employees considered their direct boss to be “the worst part of their job.” This is a very serious issue, both emotionally and financially. How someone feels about work affects every part of their life.

Managers are in most cases individuals with authority based on their skillset and professional experience. These therefore have a major influence on their team members on among others matters relating to work, promotion, and bonus. They also interact with their juniors on a daily basis and are therefore in the best position to resolve issues they face while at work.

Exceptional team leaders inspire their team members to become the best they can through leading by example; toxic managers downplay team efforts, frustrate their juniors and these eventually quit. Whereas career and financial growth is a top priority to many employees, peace of mind is equally if not most important. 

Meanwhile, managers tend to assume it was a salary issue that the employee quit, or claim the fact they, “weren’t good anyways”.

Researchers at the University of West Virginia in their Subordinate-Supervisor Communication Study found that supervisors who communicated regularly, thoughtfully and positively with their employees received greater reciprocity at work than those that didn't.

Managers should therefore build professional and healthy relationships with their team members. This will create a freer and more conducive environment for the team to express themselves on matters affecting them at work or personally that may in one way or another have an impact on the quality of their work.

It is also incumbent on the human resource department and top company executives to put in place measures that will empower managers build team members that are energized and strengthened so as to continue with the culture of high performance. It starts at the top with senior leaders embracing the benefits of good and accountable leadership.

If you invest in your managers, they will definitely invest in their people because good or great employees do not leave the company, they quit because of the manager!!