They give main five reasons for bailing. And none of them begins with “m” and ends with “y.”

That new hire you brought in right out of school is working out great — smart, eager, always willing to take on extra work and a supervisor’s dream. Until that new hire announces, “I quit.”

If you’ve seen that once too often, or if you’d like to avoid it, consider the list of reasons new graduates gave for quitting, in research done by consultant Career Catalyst:

“I never got invited to meetings or even informal get-togethers.” Some supervisors think the new kid won’t be able to contribute much to meetings at first. That may be true, but not inviting the newbie is a deadly approach.

“The only time my boss spoke to me was to criticize.” New employees are bound to make a lot of mistakes, and sometimes it’s hard to find the good they do. But there’s always some good, and new hires want to hear about it.

“I asked for feedback and never go it.” This is the flipside of offering only criticism: offering nothing, even when the person asks.

“I never understood what I was supposed to be doing.” Some bosses like to use a “let them figure it out for themselves” style of management. Those bosses generally see a lot of turnover in their groups.

“No one ever said ‘thanks.’” Really, how hard is it for a supervisor to say that one word? Especially when you consider the ROI.

Tags: feedback, management, roi, turnover