Why Australians quit their jobs

Around 63% of Australian workers quit their jobs due to a poor cultural fit, according to new research released by recruitment specialists Robert Walters. Where financial indicators were once the main drawcard, non-financial indicators — such as performance management processes and workplace flexibility — are now the standards by which prospective employers are judged.

The company says that in many cases employers do not even understand the importance of workplace culture and that mismatches highlight the importance in defining and embedding cultural fit through workplace processes.

Robert Walters Managing Director ANZ James Nicholson said that the age of the renumeration package as a selling point is over and that working conditions are deemed more important. Rather than seeing a strong workplace culture as ‘nice to have’, it can be the source of a real competitive advantage when it comes to attracting the right people. It’s estimated that staff turnover costs in the form of hiring and training can be as much as 50–60% of an employee’s annual salary.

Other research findings reveal:

• 96% of employees believe cultural fit is an important factor when weighing up career opportunities.
• 53% of Australian workers are misled about company culture during the recruitment process.
• 60% of employees have seen poor cultural fit lead to conflict within their organisation.
• Employees in larger workplaces (68%) value cultural fit more than those employed in SMEs (62%).
• Women (71%) value culture fit more than men (66%).

Nicholson believes the challenge for organisations to avoid poor cultural fit experiences is to address the issue before prospective employees sign on the dotted line.

“When it comes to recruitment, employers cannot underestimate the importance of workplace culture and need to make it a mandatory part of their recruitment and onboarding process. Employers must also carefully identify the cultural success factors that best suit the organisation and its people. If necessary, hiring managers should consider enlisting external expertise to help define appropriate cultural fit factors for roles,” he said.

For a copy of the full survey results, download the ‘Are you culturally fit?’ white paper here.