Busting the Myth That People Leave Their Managers

We hear it all the time, “Well you know, people don’t leave their job, they leave their managers.” For a while I heard this so often, I believed it to be true. But the more experience I have as a People Manager, I question this statement and I ask myself, Does the data support it?

When I began doing exit interviews, people disliking their managers did come up, but it rarely seemed to be the reason they were leaving. I found most people left because:

• They wanted or needed more pay

• They wanted growth in their career and weren’t getting it

• They were moving (sometimes because the area was too expensive and they needed more pay to stay)

I left the best manager I ever had because of the toxic company culture and lack of growth opportunities. Many of the managers I worked with have been great, but I still left the job or the company. So, why do people think it’s a fact that employees leave managers, not the job?

They quit the job, not the boss. 

Culture amp calls it “the biggest lie in HR,” but enough people have said it that we think it must be true. Culture Amp states that managers matter but not as much as company leadership and development opportunities. They’ve studied this and have the numbers to prove it.

While my exit interview numbers were telling, the CultureAmp study certainly includes a larger sample size. Their data showed people’s reasons for leaving as the following:

• Lack of development opportunities (52%)

• Leadership (28%)

• Poor manager (12%)

• Pay (11%)

The Harvard Business Review reported on “why people really quit their jobs” via a study at Facebook. As a company that heavily invests in training their managers, Facebook found that when people left, they liked their managers but left because the work was no longer enjoyable. 

“People don’t quit a boss—they quit a job.” -HBR

Don’t wait to ask the important questions

So how do we fix the problem of people leaving their company culture or their job? Engagement surveys and stay interviews. 

Don’t wait until someone is leaving to ask these important questions. While managers can’t always change the work that needs to be done (AKA the job), they can make sure that the employee continues to do challenging work that highlights the employee’s strengths. 

Even when working in small companies with an HR group of just a few people, I always ask my reports what they like working on the most and what they want to do more of. It’s a simple step, that as you see, can make a huge impact on employee retention and happiness.

Unsure where to start surveying your employees? Call on an expert to help design the perfect survey or focus group and put together a strategy to take action on the  findings. Set up a free discovery call with WorkVision Consulting by emailing info@workvisionconsulting.com.