Lack of Recognition

• One factor that can cause employees to develop intentions to leave their jobs and cause turnover is a general sense of dissatisfaction with a position. This may arise from a lack of recognition, either through low wages, a meager benefits program or failure of management to express appreciation for hard work. An incentive pay system or formal means of recognizing employees who put in outstanding effort can help business leaders give their workers a greater sense of being appreciated, and that can boost morale and decrease turnover.
  
  

Opportunity Elsewhere

• Another reason that a worker may intend to leave his job is the promise of a better opportunity elsewhere. Business leaders should ask questions and speak to colleagues, including competitors, regularly to learn about the type of wages and benefits their workers could earn elsewhere. Reviewing an applicant's salary history is one way to see what a worker expects to earn, and it can be a clue that the employee may start to look for elsewhere if the employer can't provide it. Promoting from within allows you to give your workers a feeling of opportunity within the company, rather than implying that their only chances for advancement exist elsewhere.
  
  

Work-Life Balance

• Workers who don't have the work-life balance they want are candidates who develop intentions to leave their current employers. Work-life balance consists of a reasonable, sustainable split of time and energy between a job and the rest of a worker's life, including obligations to family, a social life and hobbies or outside interests. If workers have trouble finding balance and grow restless, an employer can retain more of them by offering additional options for employees to take control of their time, such as flexible scheduling or unpaid leave with a job retention agreement.
  
  

Expectations

• Workers may also intend to leave their jobs after experiencing unrealistic or inconsistent expectations. Most workers are more productive and motivated when they understand their place in an organization and what owners, managers and co-workers expect of them. Vague job descriptions and expectations that change over time or from one manager to another make it difficult for an individual employee to feel like part of a team. A succinct job description that the employee learns during the interview process and a system of performance evaluations that makes expectations and responsibilities clear are useful tools to avoid workers leaving due to expectation issues.