 Why
Employees Quit Small Businesses
Is employee turnover a problem in your company? If so, it's easy to blame the
problem on any number of things - salary levels, benefits (or lack of them),
size of the company, or your industry. These are just some of the circumstances
that are often blamed for influencing employees to look to greener pastures and
jump ship.
But often none of those external factors come into play. Instead, the things
that cause good employees to quit are often internal problems. And in many cases
the small business owner's management "style" is at the root of the problem.
Ginny Smith (not her real name) recently wrote to Business Know-How to
explain why she quit a previous job and is thinking of quitting the one she has
now. We asked for (and got) her permission to reprint her comments below because
they are so representative of the way a wide range of small businesses operate.
Here's what Ginny has to say:
"I can tell you two reasons why I quit a previous job and why I'm considering
leaving the one I'm at.
"Previous job: I was an administrative assistant for way too may departments
(5), each of which argued over my time. I had one boss who was in charge of the
departments. She had difficulty saying no, so instead of divide and conquer, the
work ended on my desk. I was constantly busy with few breaks for three years
until my health went and I had to quit. It took me two months to recover enough
to seek employment again. Needless to say, after I left, there was a major
reorganization, but too late for me.
"This time, I got talked into going to work for a small business with few
employees. I worked there as a temp and they begged me to stay. As people, I
love them. They promised all these wonderful things about an office, a desk, and
how I was going to do this and that. Well, it's been over a year and I do have a
computer which sits on a table. I had to beg them to get me a decent chair.
"I can't do anything without my boss looking over my shoulder. Answer the
phone, take messages, and I've been there over a year and I know very little
more than I did when I started because as soon as I get the hang of it, the
rules change. Everything can only be done one way and that is her way. The
problem is I can't figure out what her way is, because as soon as I figure it
out and start doing something on my own, she changes it. Initiative is frowned
on. Everything must be done in tiny step. Efficiency is not a byword.
Anticipating needs is impossible.
"We are always behind on our order processing and people complain about it.
If she asks me to write something, I'll write it and then she will rewrite it.
It's not just me, she does this to everyone. I understand why they have
difficulty keeping anyone employed now. Since the business moved here two years
ago, they've had three secretaries and one shipping manager who all quit without
notice for the reasons I just gave. I spend my time on the phone taking
complaint calls because all aspects of the business must be authorized by the
boss. The boss spends so much time watching everyone else, we stay constantly
behind. She takes contracts and walks around with them, leaving them lie around
anywhere, then asks everyone if we've seen the contracts. If I get up to find
information, she wants to know exactly what I'm doing. The only reason I think
they are still in business is because they've been around for awhile and have a
unique product (she's only been around the last few years).
"Personally, I can't take it anymore. Example: I was fixing the printer by
cleaning it as it was printing badly. I've done this quite a few times with
various printers and most of the time, I've met with success. The boss came in
and took over without letting me finish and it gave an error message. She says
hey it might not have been printing right but at least it was printing before. I
said let me finish this. Then she yelled that she had stuff she had to do and
needed the time to do it as if all her time must be spent babysitting me,
therefore I was to sit there and do nothing so she wouldn't have to attend to
me.
"Well, I fixed the printer, and it's printing okay now, but it sure left a
bad taste in my mouth. I've been working for nearly 30 years and never had
a boss like this. I can't wait for her to leave, because that's not going to
happen. She's the owner's wife. I have a tremendous amount of computer,
administrative, and writing skills, but I'm not going to get to use them here.
I've never worked for a micromanager before and I hope not to do so again. I'm
just waiting for the opportunity to bow out gracefully. If nothing else, now I
know what to look for."
Recent Columns
About the author
Janet Attard is the founder of
the award-winning Business
Know-How small business web site and information resource. Janet is
also the author of The
Home Office And Small Business Answer Book and of Business
Know-How: An Operational Guide For Home-Based and Micro-Sized Businesses with
Limited Budgets.
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