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Unhealthy work environment trumps money as cause of turnover, research finds

September 21, 2015

Issues related to a psychologically unhealthy work environment, rather than money, appear to be a frequent cause of turnover, according to reached released today by PsychTests.com.

“Some of the reasons people cited for quitting, or wanting to quit, are justifiable, if not understandable — like wanting to jump on an opportunity to grow professionally, leaving to deal with personal issues, or to avoid being stuck in traffic for hours every morning and evening,” said PsychTests President Dr. Ilona Jerabek. “Yes, turnover is a costly problem, but there is little that management can do in these situations. However, of the top 10 reasons, there are at least four — toxic work environment, lack of work/life balance, ethical dilemmas and conflict with management — that are preventable.”

According to the research, circumstances under which a person would feel compelled to quit are not limited to a desire for more cash. The top 10 reasons for turnover assessed in the study are:

  1. Greener pastures: 43% of the people in PsychTests’ study said they would feel compelled to quit their job if a better opportunity arose — one that allowed them to advance their career and expand their professional skills; 28% of the sample have already quit a job (or several jobs) for this reason.
  2. Toxic work environment: 42% would leave their job if they found themselves dealing with office politics, like “brown-nosing,” gossip, favoritism, nepotism, backstabbing, etc.; 18% have already quit their job for this reason. Another 42% of people would feel compelled to quit their job if they were being bullied by colleagues or management; 11% of people have quit because of psychological harassment.
  3. Lack of work/life balance: 31% would quit if they were working too many hours too often and didn’t have enough leisure or family time; 18% of the participants actually have quit for this reason.
  4. Money issues: 30% would quit if they discovered that they were being underpaid compared to the industry standard for their position, or if they felt they were being inadequately compensated for their work; 18% of the sample have quit previous jobs for this reason.
  5. Boredom: 30% would quit their job if their work wasn't challenging or stimulating enough; 17% admit to quitting previous jobs for this reason.
  6. Limited opportunity for advancement: 30% would quit if they were unable to advance to a more prestigious position in the company; 19% have quit for this reason.
  7. Family or personal issues: 30% would feel compelled to quit their job for personal reasons like parental leave or illness; 14% of participants have left their job for at least one of these reasons.
  8. Practicality: 29% of the sample would quit a job for matters of convenience – for example, if their commute was too long, or they didn’t like the area where the company was located; 17% have chosen to quit their job for this reason.
  9. Ethical dilemmas: 29% would leave their job if their work or the company’s practices went against their ethics and values; 11% have already quit for this reason.
  10. Conflict with management: 23% would leave a position if they could not get along with their supervisor/manager; 14% of the sample left their job for this reason. Another 20% of people would quit their job if their boss had a tendency to micromanage them, while 11% have quit in the past because they became frustrated with their boss’ inability to relinquish control.

The research included data from 871 people who took a turnover probability test.