Organisational leaders report that women in their 30s leave their companies because of flexibility needs and family demands. But women disagree.

A recent global study revealed that the majority of 30-something women quit primarily because of pay. In fact, women are more likely than men to leave because of compensation concerns.

Not only are women’s reasons for leaving misunderstood, but differences between women and men are overstated. Four of the five top reasons that 30-something women and men leave organisations overlap.

Based on these insights, here are three actions that leaders can take:

– Ask, don’t assume: Women in their 30s should play an integral role in developing talent retention strategies. Want to know why women are leaving? Ask them and then develop data-driven strategies based on these findings.

To be successful, retention initiatives must be rooted in the needs and desires of the talent segments that they’re designed to target.

– Address challenges beyond family and flexibility: While options for flexibility and work-life balance are important, the bottom line is that motherhood is not the primary reason that women are leaving organisations. Focusing on work-life balance without considering pay and compensation will jeopardise retention and advancement efforts.

– Propose women's strategies as broader talent strategies: Gender appears to have little impact on an individual's reasons for leaving an organisation. So by implementing strategies and programmes informed by women's needs and desires, leaders will address what matters most to broader talent pools, men included. – Copyright Harvard Business Review 2016