Why Employees Leave
(Hint: It’s Not Just About Money)
While the average employee tenure in small businesses is typically a few years, we’re fortunate to have team members who’ve grown with us for more than a decade—something we attribute to strong values, ongoing development, and shared purpose.
One of the most pressing challenges for small and medium-sized businesses is how to retain employees. Larger organisations may have deeper pockets, but that doesn’t mean they always win the war for talent.
Employees often choose to stay where they feel valued, challenged, and supported. Career development remains a pivotal factor in employee retention.
- Organisations identified as “career development champions”—those offering robust career-focused initiatives—report 10% higher confidence in attracting and retaining top talent compared to their peers (LinkedIn, 2025).
- 94% of employees would stay longer at a company that invests in their learning and development (LinkedIn, 2023).
- Lack of career development is one of the top 3 reasons employees leave, not salary (McKinsey, 2022).
- Lack of career growth opportunities as the top reason employees are expected to leave their jobs in 2024 Keystone Partners, December 2024).
- Lack of career opportunities or development is among the top three reasons employees leave their jobs, alongside health and family issues, and work/life imbalance (Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) April 2024).
Here are three practical, cost-effective ways to boost retention by investing in employee development:
1. Develop Internal Career Paths
Employees want to see where they’re going—and how to get there. By creating internal career paths, you provide a roadmap for growth. These paths help employees envision a long-term future with your business.
With WorkPlan Learning, you can:
- Map learning to roles and objectives
- Create structured development journeys
- Track progress and completion
2. Foster a Culture of Mentoring
Mentoring doesn’t require a big budget—just a commitment to learning from one another. Peer mentoring and knowledge sharing are powerful tools that increase engagement and strengthen your team.
WorkPlan Learning supports:
- Collaboration features for peer learning
- Discussion forums and shared spaces
- Manager tools for mentoring and coaching
3. An LMS should be used as a Growth Engine
Too many businesses underuse their learning systems. An LMS like WorkPlan Learning can be your most valuable tool to deliver development that keeps people engaged.
Leverage features like:
- Personalised learning dashboards
- Goal-aligned learning assignments
- Progress tracking for individuals and teams
- Resources that support both learning and coaching
Businesses don’t need a huge budget to retain your best people. You need a commitment to their growth.
When employees feel seen, supported, and challenged—they stay. Let WorkPlan Learning help you build a learning culture that brings out the best in your team.
Contact us for more information.
Phone: 1300 726 708
Email: contact@workplan.com.au
* Average Employee Tenure
National Average Tenure: As of February 2024, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates that over half (57%) of employed individuals had been in their current job for less than 5 years, with about 19% having tenure of less than 1 year.
Low-Paid Award-Reliant Employees: A 2020 Fair Work Commission report noted that low-paid award-reliant employees, many of whom work in small or medium businesses (74.8% in businesses with fewer than 50 employees), had an average tenure with their current employer of 3.5 years
