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The countdown continues: Last week we discussed two of the six fundamental reasons people make job changes. Today we will look at the third and fourth most common reasons.

Paul Sturgeon

October 19, 2020

2 Min Read
man on tightrope, work on one end, life on other
Image: fotomek/Adobe Stock

Last week we discussed two of the six fundamental reasons people make job changes. Today we will look at the third and fourth most common reasons.

The fourth most common reason professionals make a job change is because their personal needs are not being met. This could range from too much work to not enough challenging work, so the causes may be quite different from one person to the next. The common thread here is that work is spilling over to employees’ time outside work, leaving them feeling unfulfilled. They may complain that they do not have a good work-life balance, or they may complain that they are bored.

Especially with the younger segment of the workforce, we often see what you could call a generation gap. The managers might have a mindset of hard work, long hours, and that just doing your job should be reward enough. Younger employees want things like flexible work hours, the ability to have fun at work, and also to be able to enjoy plenty of time off work. Frequently, this alone is enough to drive them to look for a company that can better support their personal needs, which is a good segue into job change reason number three — company culture.

Legendary management consultant Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” He did not mean that strategy is unimportant, but rather that a powerful and empowering culture was a better route to organizational success. It is also a better way to attract and retain top performers.

Signs of a poor culture include lack of employee engagement, excessive bureaucracy, lack of appreciation for employees, office politics, and poor communication. A lot of books have been written on how to improve culture by people smarter on that subject than myself, but I can tell you that good employees are more likely to entertain other opportunities than dig in and try to fix what they perceive as a toxic workplace environment.

I know you cannot wait until next week when we reveal the top two reasons plastics professionals make job changes, and yet you must. What do you think they are?

paul-sturgeon-150.jpgAbout the author

Paul Sturgeon is CEO of KLA Industries, a national search firm specializing in plastics, packaging, and polymer technology. If you have a topic you would like to see discussed, a company that is growing, or other ideas for this blog, e-mail Sturgeon at [email protected].

About the Author(s)

Paul Sturgeon

Paul Sturgeon is CEO of KLA Industries, a national search firm specializing in plastics, packaging, and polymer technology. If you have a topic you would like to see discussed, a company that is growing, or other ideas for this blog, e-mail Sturgeon at [email protected].

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