More than half of U.S. employees are actively seeking a new job, but many who left say their exit was preventable—here’s how managers can intervene

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The Great Resignation is over, but that doesn’t mean that workers are thrilled with where they’ve ended up. Burnt out and undervalued, many employees are staying put for now—but they still have one foot out the door.

More than half of U.S. employees say they are actively seeking a new role. But 42% of workers who voluntarily exited their organization in the past year said their leave was preventable, according to new data from Gallup, an analytics and advisory company.

“With the cooling of the economy, layoff fears, and some budget tightening, employees are now more reluctant to jump ship because it can be risky,” Ben Wigert, director of research and strategy for Gallup’s workplace management practice, tells Fortune. “So now employee frustration is showing up in disconnection from their workplace.”

But that disengagement can manifest with workers scrambling for a new gig. And unless employers are keeping an eye out for the warning signs, voluntary exits may blindside managers who are unaware.

Among employees surveyed who chose to leave their roles, about 77% left within three months of searching for a new position or were recruited by other organizations, according to the report. More than a third didn’t tell anyone about their decision to leave, and the survey notes that around 44% of staffers who did disclose their choice to exit didn’t talk with their manager. Wigert says they likely had that conversation with coworkers instead.

“We've seen that poaching has been on the rise since the beginning of the pandemic. There's a lot of opportunities out there, and once they start to put feelers out there, it doesn't take long to find something,” he says. “People make their decisions quickly, and they're not very proactive about reaching back out to their boss about what other options they might have.”

Employers still have a fighting chance to retain their best talent, but bosses have to take initiative by having conversations with workers about their roles. In the three months leading up to employee exits, only 29% of voluntary leavers say their managers discussed the future of their careers within their organizations, 28% talked about job satisfaction, 18% chatted about steps to be effective in their roles, and 17% were consulted on what it would take for them to stay after voicing concerns. Meanwhile, 45% of employees who quit never spoke with a leader about any of these topics.

“You have to be ahead of the game, having proactive conversations with your employees about how they're doing, their engagement, job progress, development, and ensure they feel they're valued and recognized for what they do,” Wigert says.

There are also other ways that employers can keep their staff happy. Around 30% of voluntary exiters say additional compensation and benefits would have prevented them from leaving, according to the report. Around 21% said they would have stayed if they had more positive interpersonal interactions with managers, 11% said talk of career advancement would have done the trick, and 9% said better staffing, workloads, and scheduling would have helped.

“It can be hard to talk about what is and isn't working with your team, because people largely feel like that's a reflection back on them,” Wigert says. “So it's important that managers ask smart questions to employees in terms of what's pertinent to their job. You might ask around about their burnout and workloads, [and] if they have partners available to help them.”

Turnover can cost organizations dearly. The report estimates that replacing leaders and managers costs companies about 200% of their salaries, filling in technical roles is 80% of their annual pay, and bringing in new frontline workers is around 40% of their yearly wages. Luckily, preventing voluntary exits is not only possible but pretty straightforward.

“Managers should have at least one meaningful conversation a week with each of their employees, or even have a quick hallway conversation. Just check in to make sure you know what's happening in their world,” Wigert says.

Emma Burleigh
emma.burleigh@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com