The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How To Recognize The Subtle Signs And Act Before It's Too Late By Leigh Branham

The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How to Recognize the Subtle Signs and Act Before It's Too Late By Leigh Branham List Price: $24.95 Price: $16.47 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Ships from and sold by Amazon.com 99 new or used available from $1.70 Average customer review: (18 customer reviews)

Product Description

More than 85% of managers believe employees leave because they have been pulled away by "more pay" or "better opportunity." Yet, more than 80 percent of employees say it was "push" factors related to poor management practices or toxic cultures that drove them out. The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave reveals what organizations can do to identify, prevent, and correct the root causes of preventable turnover.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #245180 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .83" h x 6.32" w x 9.38" l, 1.24 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780814408513
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Editorial Reviews

Review

Canadian HR Reporter: "An insightful and sobering account."

Review

"""In this book Leigh has turned the tables on retention. His concept of pull versus push factors is a great insight. Many people are not pulled out of an organization by a better offer. They are pushed to the door so that when a better offer comes along it is easy to take the last step across the threshold. Every one of the seven reasons Leigh cites for turnover are preventable and not expensive. From selection for fit, to on-the-job support, to being valued, the organization has the power to keep almost anyone they want. Having outlined the problem, Leigh then provides over 50 ways to engage and keep people. This is an invaluable guidebook on retention.""

-- Dr. Jac Fitz-enz, Founder & CEO, Human Capital Source; author of The ROI of Human Capital

""Any book that can give you ideas that help you retain just one employee is worth the cover price many times over. Leigh Branham's book can help you hold on to your best. It's chock full of practical examples and suggestions, best practices, and inspiring stories. Highly recommended.""

-- Robert Levering, coauthor of Fortune's ""100 Best Companies to Work for"" list; cofounder of Great Place to Work® Institute

"Branham's work will help companies better understand employee turnover's devastating impact on their culture and their bottom line. And insightful leaders will use his practical advice to help employees stay, and their companies succeed."

Jeff Chambers, Vice President, Human Resources, SAS

""A solid and stimulating set of insights, ideas, and solutions around the ongoing challenge of engaging and retaining talent.""

-- Lou Kaucic, Chief People Officer, Applebee's International, Inc."

About the Author

Leigh Branham is the author of Keeping the People Who Keep You in Business and Founder/Principal of the consulting firm Keeping the People, Inc. (www.keepingthepeople.com). He is widely recognized as an authority on employee engagement and the best practices of organizations that continually boast exceptional retention. He lives in Overland Park, Kansas, and can be reached via email at LB@keepingthepeople.com.

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful.
A deep and thorough exploration of employee engagement
By Michael Erisman
This book is jam packed with insights and studies on why employees leave companies, or worse, disengage from the roles and stay. Woven throughout the book are 55 "Engagement Tips" to improve the culture and environment of your workplace or leadership to keep your top talent deeply engaged and contributing.

At the heart of the book is the deep look into some why employees leave, and several comprehensive studies are summarized here to help dissect the real reasons your company may be losing talent. When it comes to determining the real reasons for dissatisfaction, and eventual disengagement from your company, some of the key reasons center around "mismatch" between the job and the person, and basic leadership failures around coaching, feedback, value, recognition, trust, confidence in leadership, and a lack of a career development opportunity.

What I found most useful were the many insights into the psychology of how and why people feel valued and stay loyal. The book lists four fundamental human needs, which if not met, are triggers for disengagement and loss of talent; Trust; Hope: Worth; Feeling Competent. (Page 20). The quote that opens the section on coaching and feedback sums up the gap, and connection to the psychology involved in ensuring your organization can retain its key talent: "The manager needs to look at the employee not as a problem to be solved, but as a person to be understood." (Page 70). The connection and human dynamic is demonstrated with clarity as the key to creating an environment that enables engaged performers, but it is also one of the most common gaps in leadership today.

Another key element is the changing paradigm of what employees expect. The book compares and contrasts and "old contract" with a "new contract" and looks at the differences between what is expected by today's workers and how this has changed over time. (Page 98). While covered extensively in other works, the book here also examines again the reasons why recognition, so vital to employee satisfaction and engagement, is often so absent from corporate leadership skills. (Page 122).

Overall, this book is a great resource and tremendously valuable topic for anyone whose business or organizational success is dependent on the talent and performance of their people. There are enough charts, graphs, studies, bullet points and sources here to keep the most analytic person engaged throughout. A very comprehensive and well done collection of studies and information which provide a clear roadmap for improving the engagement and performance of your people while lowering attrition and disengagement. Highly recommended.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
What you don't know not only can hurt you...it WILL
By Robert Morris
In Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching and Keeping the Best People, Bradford D. Smart explains why the average cost of a mis-hire is 24 times the annual salary. (That's right: 24 times the annual salary.) I am unaware of what the average cost of losing a highly-valued employee would be but it must certainly be substantial. This book is based on a wealth of research conducted by or in collaboration with the Saratoga Institute. The observations and conclusions which Branham shares are wholly consistent with what has been revealed by countless other research studies. According to Branham, there are four fundamental human needs. If one or more are not being met, an employee becomes dissatisfied, less productive, perhaps disruptive, and usually leaves. These needs are for trust and hope as well as for feeling a sense of worth and of having competence. No news there.

This book's value is derived from what Branham has to say about seven less obvious (if not "hidden") needs. He focuses on several "subtle signs" by which to identify them and then suggests how to take appropriate action before it is too late. For example, Reason #1: the job or workplace was not as expected. Whose fault is that? Could be those involved in the interview/hiring process who over-sold the job; could be the person hired. Perhaps blame must be shared by everyone directly involved. In any event, Branham explains HOW to recognize the warning signs of unmet expectations, identifies obstacles to meeting mutual expectations, and suggests eight specific "engagement practices" for matching mutual expectations. Branham also devotes an entire chapter to each of the other six reasons, followed by two appendices, each of which all by itself is well worth the cost of this book. Appendix A offers a "Summary Checklist of Employer-of-Choice Engagement Practices"; Appendix B offers "Guidelines and Considerations for Exit Interviewing/Surveying and Turnover Analysis."

Experts on employee relations agree with experts on customer relations that feeling appreciated is ranked among the three most important attributes, with compensation and cost ranked anywhere from 9th to 12th. If the research studies are reliable (and I believe they are), what they indicate is that the best employees and the best customers "leave" for the same "hidden reasons" which Branham examines in this book. If your organization is experiencing such losses, this is a book which should be read and then re-read ASAP. However, Branham's book is essentially worthless if appropriate actions are not then taken immediately. Perhaps policies and procedures need to be revised. Perhaps feedback surveys need to be conducted. Perhaps there are communication problems to be solved. Branham can help each reader to measure the nature and extent of what must be done. Then do it!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
Loved it - From a hard core business book junkie
By Bill Flemming
In The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave, by Leigh Branham, the author describes these seven reasons and then supports them with such detail that I was convinced this book was written with my company in mind. In particular, the need for developing retention programs is very clearly addressed.

As a headhunter, I've listened for years to candidates tell me about their frustrations and concerns with their employers. In these conversations, it was clear that higher compensation wasn't always the key to attracting the better candidates. Branham seems to have nailed down the REAL reasons that people walk out those doors.

Interested in recruiter-proofing your organization? If so, author Branham has done all the hard work for you in this book. These hidden agendas, those that recruiters work so hard to uncover, are laid out for the reader-as is a plan to eliminate them forever, while keeping top performers happy and productive on the job.

I liked this book a great deal, and as a "junkie" for business books, I've read a lot of them. I can tell you that this one will have an impact on your company. It did on mine.