Just back from Colorado and you know it is a sure sign of Autumn when the aspen leaves change from green to yellow, gold, and red.  According to the article below from the Denver Business Journal, another sign this Autumn may be a large percentage of the professional workforce leaving their current employers.  If you look at the reasons listed below for leaving, most of the time the issue is the manager(s).  People generally leave their managers, not their companies.

Are you prepared to lose 40% of your professionals?  If not, how do you get and keep the right managers in place so you can avoid many of your professionals leaving?  The CheckPoint assessment provides feedback for a manager from his/her boss, their direct reports, and their peers.  The ProfileXT assessment tells your manager how they think, behave, and their occupational interests.  When used together, they present a comprehensive picture of what they do well, and why, and is the foundation for game-changing improvements.

Survey: 40 percent of U.S. professionals want to quit

(excerpted from an August 12, 2010, Denver Business Journal article by Suzanna Stagemeyer)

As autumn approaches, companies could see employees leaving for greener pastures.

Forty percent of U.S. professionals are thinking about quitting their jobs after the summer vacation, according to a new survey by workplace supplierRegus. They’re tired of not being promoted, bosses that don’t share company goals, and being overworked, the survey found.

“As workers pack up their swimsuits this summer, they are more likely to dwell on the pros and cons of the job that is waiting for them at home,” Sande Golgart, Regus regional vice president, said in a release. “Stress caused by overwork has escalated during the past recession, with people working harder and longer to make sure they can pay their bills,” Golgart said. “Bonuses and job perks were cut back to weather the storm, but as the economy picks up, employees will be flocking to businesses that promise them better conditions and not necessarily the biggest salary.”

Here is a list of reasons U.S. professionals cited for wanting to quit their jobs this year, accompanied by the percentage of respondents who cited the reason:

• Lack of communication and involvement by top management, 40 percent
• Lack of promotion despite good work results, 37 percent
• Overwork, 34 percent
• Lack of company “vision,” 31 percent
• Lack of belief in colleagues’ competence, 28 percent
• Lack of administrative support, 26 percent
• Rude colleagues, 21 percent
• Boss takes credit for their work, 20 percent

In a similar survey cited in March by the Denver Business Journal’s Bruce Goldberg in his Street Talk column, Right Management found that 60 percent of workers are unhappy with their jobs and plan to leave for greener pastures this year.

How do you find and keep the right managers so your top performers do not walk out the front door?  It is a three-step approach — Measure, Improve, then Measure Again:

1. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your managers by using a combination of the CheckPoint and ProfileXT assessments.  The ProfileXT will help you put the right manager in the right job.  The CheckPoint will help your managers and your organization measure and see the effectiveness of your management team.
2. Once you have the right managers in place and you have a baseline of their performance, use on-the-job experiences to strengthen their strengths and neutralize their weaknesses.
3. Use the comparison feature of the CheckPoint to measure how your organization has improved.