Why Do Good People Leave Great Jobs?

I’m done. I quit. I’ve had it.

The fact is people quit their job — before they have another – every day.

Are these people crazy? Stupid? Independently wealthy?

“To hell with being unhappy” seems to be the battle cry of the new republic. According to Business Insider, of the 93 percent of adults surveyed who work full time — who quit their jobs in the past two years — 57 percent didn’t have another job lined up. And 65 percent of them quit because they simply were not happy. What’s more, 94 percent of them don’t regret it.

Those are quite compelling facts and I thought I better look up a few more studies.

So I started at the top — with Gallup. It concluded that a bad boss or supervisor is the No. 1 reason people quit their jobs.

If anyone knows about employment it’s Monster.com.  A recent Monster poll asked which TV show closely resembles people's work environments and here are the results:

         39 percent Survivor

         37 percent The Office

         18 percent CSI

         11 percent The Apprentice

Last week Walnut Creek Patch editor Martha Ross quit her job, surprising and disappointing many who thought it was “the perfect” job for her.

I bet if Monster.Com asked her which TV show most closely resembled her job, she would have answered, Mission Impossible.

In the past few years, several of my close friends (all of whom have children) quit their job with little or no work on the horizon. And these are smart women – UC graduates who simply put their own life/work/balance needs before the men they worked for. I totally get it and, apparently, so did Martha.

I don’t think employers understand that money is not the only thing that motivates the majority of employees. Every website I went to gave the same top reasons people quit their jobs: overworked and under-staffed; lack of non-monetary recognition; questionable practices, culture and favoritism; and too much pressure and not enough fun.

With unemployment numbers so high how can people with jobs just walk away from them?  Have we turned in to a generation of crybabies or Norma Raes?

I guess it depends which side of the desk you’re sitting on.

There are always two sides to every story and we are inclined to accept the side that supports our beliefs. Worker bees are going to see things differently than their managers and that same misconception — lack of appreciation for them or their opinion — is usually what caused the fallout in the first place.

According to Business Know How.com, good employees quit their jobs because management demands they do the work of two or more people without enough administrative support.

Another favorite is management not taking the time to clarify goals or decisions and therefore not only rejecting the employee’s work after it’s been completed but damaging morale.

And let’s not forget managers who allow departments to compete against each other while preaching teamwork and cooperation at the same time.

I think it’s interesting — and sad — that these factors are preventable.

AOL Jobs reported that, according to a recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more employees left their jobs voluntarily than were laid off.  It too concluded key factors were overworked employees, limited upward mobility and quite simply, workers who couldn’t stand their boss.

When I started writing this Off the Beaten Patch, I thought it would be based on my personal experience — but that’s barely factored into it.  Everyone I talked to and everything I read has all pointed to the same thing: Good employees quit and management doesn’t understand (or admit) that it’s better to do everything possible to keep a good employee than it is to replace one.

Which brings us back to Martha leaving.

Martha did an incredible job and left some pretty big shoes to fill.  I know she will be successful wherever she goes and whatever she does.

So for now, it’s goodbye, Mission Impossible, and hello, Wonder Woman.