"Top Ten Reasons Why People Quit Their Jobs"

While far from a scientific analysis, management consultant and author Greg Smith compiled his top reasons people change jobs:

1. Management demands that one person do the jobs of two or more people, resulting in longer days and weekend work.

2. Management cuts back on administrative help, forcing professional workers to use their time copying, stapling, collating, filing and other clerical duties.

3. Management puts a freeze on raises and promotions, when an employee can easily find a job earning 20-30 percent more somewhere else.

4. Management doesn’t allow the rank and file to make decisions or allow them pride of ownership. A visitor to my website E-mailed me a message that said, “Forget about the “professional” decisions—how about when you can’t even select the company’s holiday card without the President rejecting it for one of his own taste?”

5. Management constantly reorganizes, shuffles people around, and changes direction constantly.

6. Management doesn’t have or take the time to clarify goals and decisions. Therefore, it rejects work after it was completed, damaging the morale and esteem of those who prepared it.

7. Management shows favoritism and gives some workers better offices, trips to conferences, etc.

8. Management relocates the offices to another location, forcing employees to quit or double their commute.

9. Management promotes someone who lacks training and/or necessary experience to supervisor, alienating staff and driving away good employees.

10. Management creates a rigid structure and then allows departments to compete against each other while at the same time preaching teamwork and cooperation.

LifeTwo Editorial Analysis: It is our opinion that while management may be the dominant factor in a company's turnover-rate, Smith's list appears to be a little too focused on management at the expense of employee-specific issues. Employees, particularly those in their midlife years, can change jobs for a variety of reasons from wanting to change industries to a changing family situation. We would assume that a job change decision is often the result of a multitude of factors--some within management's direct control and others not.

Since we all have had experience with good/bad management as well as changing jobs, this is a good topic for reader input and discussion.

For additional information follow this link to Greg Smith's book Here Today, Here Tomorrow: Transforming Your Workforce from High-Turnover to High-Retention .)

This post is part of LifeTwo's Midlife Career Change FAQ covering all aspects of changing careers in middle age.