With national low employment rate hovering around 4.1%, and unemployment for technical professions even lower, employee turnover seems inevitable. And as many employers will tell you; that is sometimes good and sometimes bad for the company.
So, what should you do when a long term or even a short term, but high performing employee decides to leave?
First things first; don’t panic or make knee-jerk decisions in response to a resignation. However unexpected or impactful, the world will not end.
Take stock of the current structure of the position being vacated, responsibilities and priorities, and how the employee performed in the major categories. Decide how you intend to replace that person; a direct one-to-one replacement, perhaps a division of duties between existing staff members, or the combination of a new hire while still dividing some duties to existing employees.
Sometimes, an unexpected departure presents opportunity to retool how the business is run (at least in area of the resignation, and sometimes on a broader context). Revisit the circumstances behind the departure. Identify what (if any) conditions / responsibilities can or need to be modified to promote longevity in the vacated position.
Common approaches to replace an unexpected resignation can include the following:
1 – Counteroffer. While this may seem one obvious approach, counteroffers rarely work out long-term. Unless the reason behind a resignation is 100% compensation driven, rarely does just matching or improving someone’s salary solve the underlying or root cause of a resignation.
2 – Does this create an opportunity to promote a high talent employee into the vacancy?
3 – Go to the open market to hire a new employee with the intent to improve the level of performance with the new hire.
4 – If possible, consider allocating major components of the vacated position among other high value employees to increase their job satisfaction and loyalty. Then backfill the position with a more junior level employee, but one with high potential for future growth.
Part ways on good terms whenever possible; never acrimoniously. Company and individual reputations are built over long time frames but can be destroyed quickly. Don’t overreact, say or respond in a manner later regretted.
If you are truly sorry to lose an employee, leave the door open for future conversations. If they were a loyal employee during their tenure, treat them in the same manner during their resignation period. As we all know from experience, sometimes their new role works out and sometimes it does not.
We wish you great success navigating the always challenging task of hiring talented staff. If increasing your staff or upgrading the quality of technical resources is on your strategic list of goals to accomplish, VAR Staffing welcomes the opportunity to discuss your needs. Call us at 972-996-0966, or email Ashley at Awilliamson@VARstaffing.com
