Giving Notice: Why the Best and the Brightest Leave the Workplace and How You Can Help Them Stay

6.6. Corporate Leavers: What My Employer Could Have Done to Help Me Stay

Surprising overlap exists among the top factors that would have caused each of our groups of survey respondents to reconsider leaving their employers. For example, a strong percentage of all groups (24 to 41 percent) indicate that they would have been very likely to stay if their previous employers had offered to pay them more fairly. However, that is the most important concern only for heterosexual Caucasians, both men and women. For gay and lesbian workers, pay is a close second to "offering better benefits." In contrast, people of color put concerns about pay tied for third place, giving it equal weight with "offering a more positive work environment"—yet pay and work ...