A dissatisfaction disconnect between employees and management could be costing companies valuable talent.
According to the Global Strategic Rewards study by Watson Wyatt, a global consulting firm, and WorldatWork, an international association of human resource professionals, the U.S. has the highest median turnover rate, at 11%.
But efforts to retain top-performing employees may be undercut by misunderstandings of employee priorities. When ranking reasons to leave their current company, employees cited stress as No. 1—not even a top five reason employers gave for why their workers would leave.
Reason for Leaving Current Company
| Rank |
Empoyee View |
Employer View |
| 1 |
Stress levels |
Base pay |
| 2 |
Base pay |
Career development
opportunities |
| 3 |
Promotion opportunity |
Promotion opportunity |
| 4 |
Career development
opportunities |
Relationship with supervisor |
| 5 |
Work/life balance |
Work/life balance |
Source: 2007/2008 Global Strategic Rewards study, Watson Wyatt, www.watsonwyatt.com, and WorldatWork, www.worldatwork.org .