When You Hear Someone’s Leaving, Listen Before You Act

There are lots of articles about how to recognize the “early warning signs” that a valued employee is ready to leave. There are a couple of implications in this way of describing an impending departure:

1. That you as an employer have done something wrong to cause that person to leave, or not done something good that would have kept that person from considering another opportunity.
2. That you now have to go to great lengths to get that person to stay.

It may have nothing to do with you. It’s possible the employer hasn’t offered the “Gold Plan” to this employee all along, and that the only way to “get what you want around here” is to threaten to leave.

If so, the time to recognize it is with regular and frequent reviews of compensation, benefits and work arrangements, and benchmarking against what’s going on elsewhere — not waiting until a valued staff member says she’s going to leave.

Efforts to keep him may not be the right thing to do. The employer’s knee-jerk reaction to the news is typically to go into “full retention mode” — offering to “make it right” with more pay or benefits or work arrangement concessions.

This kind of heroic retention effort reflects a presumption on the part of the employer that it’s best for all concerned — the company, the employee and other staff members — if this employee stays.

There are lots of reasons people leave that have nothing to do with any action or inaction on the part of the employer:

• They recognize they’ve made all the contribution they can make to your organization.
• They’re ready for a change of scenery, and simply want to go to work somewhere else.
• They’re ready to do a different kind of work.
• They have a personal issue that makes it inconvenient to continue their employment with you.

Similarly, the employer may not have taken a recent look at its own staffing requirements, and may be stuck viewing this employee’s role with the same mindset they had the day they made the hiring decision awhile ago.

It may actually be best for everyone if the employee moves on. And if — after really listening — you find that to be true, then you as Mentor-Coach should help that employee make a smooth transition to the next chapter.

Then it’s your job as Leader-Manager to help the organization adjust to the new reality of work without this person on board:

• Has there already been a change in the kind of work your unit is doing that indicates an adjustment in how you’re organized to do it?
• Is the company planning the roll-out of a new product or service that will change the staffing you need to support it?
• Have some other employees done all they can do in their current roles, and need a change?
• Is it time for someone to take on more responsibility?

Sometimes the impending departure of an employee is just what’s needed for positive changes for that associate and for your organization.