savings.Freda Turner, “An Effective Employee Suggestion Program Has a Multiplier
Effect,” WebPro News, March 4, 2003,
-
employee-suggestion-program-has-a-multiplier-effect-2003-03
(accessed October
11, 2011).
Similarly, in 2001, Edward Jones, a personal investment company, faced a difficult
situation during the stock-market downturn. Costs had to be cut, and laying off
employees was one option. Instead, however, the company turned to its workforce
for solutions. As a group, employees identified cost savings of more than $38
million. At the same time, the company convinced experienced employees to stay
with it by assuring them that they’d have a role in managing it.Richard L. Daft and
Dorothy Marcic,
Understanding Management
(Florence, KY: Cengage Learning, 2006),
219,
(accessed October 11, 2011).
Why People Quit
As important as such initiatives can be, one bad boss can spoil everything. The way
a person is treated by his or her boss may be the primary factor in determining
whether an employee stays or goes. People who have quit their jobs cite the
following behavior by superiors:
•
Making unreasonable work demands
•
Refusing to value their opinions
Chapter 7 Recruiting, Motivating, and Keeping Quality Employees
7.5 Performance Appraisal
362
Figure 7.9
Trying to meet unreasonable
work demands can be extremely
stressful and is a major reason
people quit their jobs.
© 2010 Jupiterimages
Corporation
•
Failing to be clear about what’s expected of subordinates
•
Rejecting work unnecessarily
•
Showing favoritism in compensation, rewards, or promotionsGregory
P. Smith, “Top Ten Reasons Why People Quit Their Jobs,”
Business
Know-How
,
,
(accessed October 11, 2011).
Holding managers accountable for excessive turnover
can help alleviate the “bad-boss” problem, at least in
the long run. In any case, whenever an employee quits,
it’s a good idea for someone—someone other than the
individual’s immediate supervisor—to conduct an exit
interview to find out why. Knowing why people are
quitting gives an organization the opportunity to
correct problems that are causing high turnover rates.
Involuntary Termination
Before we leave this section, we should say a word or
two about
termination
—getting fired. Though
turnover—voluntary separations—can create problems
for employers, they’re not nearly as devastating as the
effects of involuntary termination on employees. Losing
your job is what psychologists call a “significant life
change,” and it’s high on the list of “stressful life
events” regardless of the circumstances. Sometimes,
employers lay off workers because revenues are down
and they must resort to
downsizing
39
—to cutting costs
by eliminating jobs. Sometimes a particular job is being
phased out, and sometimes an employee has simply
failed to meet performance requirements.
