Why workers left their last jobs and what it tells us about attrition

Career progression and redundancy are the two main reasons people left their last mining jobs, an MPI survey has found.

Career progression and redundancy are the two main reasons people left their last mining jobs, an MPI survey has found.

Although the sample size was small for September’s MPI poll, a couple of data points did stand out. Of those who responded to our survey question, “why did you leave your last mining job”, a quarter left because they were made redundant and another quarter left seeking career advancement.

Why employees left their jobs

Here’s what the results told us (note: we’ve rounded these figures):

24% - I resigned for career progression

24% - I was made redundant

14% - I resigned to go to a better-paying job

11% - I resigned because the job was not how it was initially described or the conditions were changed

8% - I resigned because I did not relate to the culture of the company or my teammates

8% - I was dismissed due to performance-related issues

5% - I resigned because I did not get on with my boss

5% - I resigned for personal or family reasons

If there’s a take-out from these survey results, let it be that there are plenty of opportunities for companies to take action that might help stem attrition rates.

If we remove those who were made redundant, those who were dismissed and those who resigned for family reasons, that still means 63% of employees resigned for potentially preventable reasons.

When we take the remaining reasons people left their last jobs, most seem to come back to either management or communications issues — and in reality, in most cases, it was probably both that led to the employee leaving.

How we can begin to tackle attrition rates

Take, for example, career progression. Why didn’t the employee see opportunities for career progression at their existing employer? Perhaps none of their line managers bothered to ask them what they wanted from their future, how they saw their career progressing, or what they wanted to do with their lives. Perhaps, having never had those conversations, they never set out a path to help the employee achieve their ambitions — never offered them the training they needed, never offered the employee the opportunity to shadow the role, or to step up into the role when someone went on leave. Perhaps no-one made that employee feel the company cared about them, their desires, and their future.

Whatever is leading to attrition — whether an employee wants a higher salary, isn’t getting on with the boss, or doesn’t feel the role is what they were promised —the key tools every employer and HR department have in their bag to do something positive about it are good communication and management.

With an ongoing skills shortage that’s continuing to bite the industry, keeping good people long term can make a huge difference in any mining company. Knowing the reasons people leave gives us a solid opportunity to find ways to encourage them to stay. It all starts with good communication and good management.

Mining People International has almost three decades’ specialist experience helping mining companies find the best candidates across every job category. Find out more here or get in touch today.

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