Top Reasons Why MSP Employees Leave

When it comes to getting good talent, competition is fiercer than ever before. Nowhere is this truer than in technology, where specialized skills and a shortage of talent combine to drive up competition and salaries for qualified talent.

For managed services providers (MSPs), this presents a significant challenge as they look to support their clients with the best services and talent possible. This problem is only expected to increase, with one study estimating that U.S. companies could lose out on $162 billion in annual revenues due to the tech talent shortage.

With these trends in mind, it’s more important than ever for an MSP to make sure it’s retaining the talent it has. This is also more cost effective than recruiting new talent from ground zero, where the average cost in the market to replace an employee is estimated to be around 100 to 150 percent of an employees salary for technical positions and even more for c-suite roles.

To get to the root of retaining talent, an MSP business owner needs to understand why an employee might leave. There are several reasons that an employee may look elsewhere outside their organization for employment.

Here are some of the top reasons that an MSP employee may be at risk of leaving.

No opportunity for career advancement.

While employees start out in entry-level roles, they’ll naturally want to ensure there’s a path forward for advancement as their skills grow. This could mean opportunities for promotion, or simply new opportunities to grow their skills through training or new challenges. MSP business owners should make sure they’re providing these opportunities to ensure their team members are challenged and rewarded by the work at hand, otherwise these employees may look to leave for the next promotion or growth opportunity.

Lack of connection to company culture.

Employees want to feel that the company culture and leadership values their contributions and that they’re making a difference. On top of that, they’ll want to connect and resonate with the corporate values and missions that their company embody. MSP business owners should make sure both items are clearly defined within their organization and carefully nurtured to maintain employee loyalty.

Employee burnout.

Supporting clients in sometimes high-stress situations can sometimes lead to stress and burnout from overwork. MSPs should make sure they’re carefully allocating ticket workloads among employees to help maintain a work-life balance and limit burnout, as well as ensuring they’re fully rewarding and recognizing those who may have extra workloads at any given time.

Competition for high salaries.

With the competition for talent comes a natural supply and demand dynamic that drives up salaries. If their existing salaries aren’t competitive, employees may be tempted by a different company offering a slightly higher pay or benefits package. As part of their regular review process, MSPs should make sure their salaries remain competitive against industry averages and are adjusting accordingly.

MSP business owners should take a hard look at the above reasons and consider if any of them might apply to their employees. If so, those employees might be at risk of jumping to another company in this competitive job market. Once recognized, though, there’s hope for change and to get ahead of any challenges and ensure they’re keeping their team intact for the long haul and support their clients to the best of their abilities.