The start of any new year has many of us contemplating a career move and a new Australian study has revealed the number one reason most of us choose to quit.

According to the results of a study by recruitment agency Citrus Group, the main reason for typing up a resignation letter is lack of opportunities within the business.

Some 22 per cent of respondents cited a lack of career progression for looking elsewhere.

When asked what attracted them most to a workplace, the study revealed that salary came out on top, with 30 per cent of Australians listing this at the most important factor when searching for a role.

Next up was job flexibility (22 per cent), followed by career progression (14 per cent), culture (13 per cent), the option to work from home (12 per cent), incentives (five per cent), leadership (four per cent) and extra leave coming in lowest in the consideration set (two per cent), offering leaders and managers alike areas for improvement to retain staff.

When questioned, additional reasons provided by those surveyed as to why they departed a job were; no career progression (22 per cent); no option to work from home (15 per cent); low salary (14 per cent); bad culture (13 per cent); no job flexibility (nine per cent) and finally, no job incentives (seven per cent).

Joint managing Director of Citrus Group, Paul Smith, said of the survey: “It’s clear that Australians value Things such as career progression, job flexibility and workplace culture alongside salary, when looking for new roles, signalling clear areas for leaders to improve on in their own workplaces. 

“High staff turnover can be extremely costly for businesses, and so leaders should look to creating workplace environments that support staff retention.”

Smith’s tips for attracting and retaining staff included:

1. Offer job flexibility to staff members: With 22 per cent of Australians citing job flexibility as the most important factor in a workplace, and 12 per cent stating the option to work from home even more important, clearly job flexibility needs to be a top priority for all managers. By allowing staff to work from home, implementing flexible working hours or job sharing, staff work-life balance will improve, in turn increasing productivity, job satisfaction and company success.
2. Foster employee development: Our research showed that 14 per cent of Australians felt that career progression and a clear career path was most attractive to them when choosing a workplace, signalling the need for great leaders to provide just that. By taking a keen interest in each staff members’ professional development and career goals and giving them clear guidelines, they will achieve these, great leaders can create teams that feel acknowledged and supported in their growth, which is key for a thriving team.
3. Create an inclusive team environment: It goes without saying that for staff to enjoy a role, they need to feel part of a team. In fact, 13 per cent of Australians cited bad culture as a top reason for leaving a previous role. As we know, culture comes from the top, thus managers are crucial to creating inclusive and supportive teams. Some ways of doing so are ensuring you hire people who fit in with your culture, having cultural ambassadors within your team, creating a positive environment, and encouraging social connections.
4. Build trust: Employees need to be led by someone that they trust. As such, leaders must make sure to always be open and honest with all staff members, share company successes and losses (where appropriate), and ensure they always have their team member’s backs and best interests in mind. Employees that don’t have trust in their boss will in turn become unproductive, disengaged and disconnected.
5. Offer fair pay to employees: With the largest number of Australians (30 per cent) listing salary as most important to them when looking for a new job, it’s clear to see that fair pay is crucial to staff happiness. As a leader, it’s up to you to ensure all staff are paid fairly for the work they do, A and that they aren’t discriminated against in any way.