There are few worse feelings for a manager than when a valued employee announces he or she is leaving. Last month we chatted about how to spot signs of discontent, now what can we do if they are there?

Luckily – in most cases – employee resignation is a process, not an event, so we have time to address the situation. The best news for anyone charged with leading people: we can interrupt the disengagement process and salvage key talent at critical, predictable points along the decision path to departure.

The process of disengagement:

• Trigger event.
• Question if the decision to accept the job was the right one.
• Second trigger event.
• Try to change things.
• Think seriously about quitting / seek resolution.
• Consider the cost of quitting.
• Resolve to quit.
• Passively seek another job (become alert to opportunities without actively looking).
• Prepare to actively seek.
• Actively seek.
• Get new job offer.
• Quit to accept new job, quit without a job, or stay and disengage.

Preventative maintenance

The best defense is a good offense: meeting with everyone within our span of responsibility on a regular basis.

Regular meetings ensure a timely exchange of information and make it less likely that we are caught off guard if someone is planning to go.

We can observe a lot by watching…

We can learn a lot about what motivates our people by observing them in various situations. Noticing when their faces have smiles and their voices have enthusiasm. Observing, also, what they are not expressing and might be holding back. When are they most productive, and when do the numbers drop?

What patterns can we observe? What seems to be contributing to the motivation or disengagement of each individual?

If we notice a change in behaviour, communicate…

And, as concisely as possible, focus on the data (our observations, not our assumptions about what those observations mean) and quickly turn the conversation over to our direct report.

For example: “I wanted to meet with you today because I’ve noticed you missed the last three staff meetings and you’ve been out of the office more than usual. Can we talk about that? How are these meetings for you?”

If there is an issue, we can ask first what their proposed solution is, or what they might need to turn that situation around, before offering our own advice or decision.

If anything is unclear, ask

• What are the “downers” in your current job… things that challenge you or upset you? What suggestions do you have for improving these situations?
• Have you ever quit a job because you were dissatisfied? If yes, what made you quit?
• What experiences have caused you in the past to think of looking for another job?
• When you compare our company to other job opportunities that you know of, how do we compare? What do you think makes us a better place to work for, or what do we need to improve?
• What do you need from your manager? To what extent are you getting those things?
• If you were the CEO or owner of this company, what would you do differently in order to attract and keep good employees?

I also think it is a great idea to spend extra time with our best, most loyal employees. It is important to learn what keeps them with us. Whatever it is, we want to keep doing it! And, we want to nip in the bud anything that could threaten our relationship with these good people.

If, despite our encouragement a valued employee decides to leave, it’s a good idea to make sure the parting is amicable and we leave the door open to their coming back. Sometimes new jobs don’t work out, after all, and we can make sure they know we would be happy to talk any time they are on the move.

On the other hand, identifying leaving signs in an employee we’re not particularly worried about losing allows us time to prepare for finding a replacement.

In either case, DAV can help find you the very best people to fill the position, minimizing disruption to your company.

Ingrid Kast
CEO DAV