Let the bird fly or how to accept when one of your best team members leaves you
“There shouldn’t be indispensable people in a team anymore,” I told myself nearly a year ago after our motion lead designer resigned.
Based on a true story
I remember that day vividly: weekly syncs with internal projects and leading teams, sitting with earphones in a café, hearing one of the most valuable and efficient team members say cheerfully: “Oh, and by the way, I’m leaving the company.”
Although, it’s normal for people to leave, I wasn’t 100% prepared for it as a Head of a Design at the Design-Driven Product Studio Merge Development.
Understanding the reasons behind employees leaving
We openly discussed the reasons and terms of termination.
I recommend openly asking why employees are leaving the company. It can provide helpful information about their challenges since we, as managers, don’t always see all the nuances of their work.
The situation
Unfortunately, this happened during a period of high workload for the motion and graphics team, so I found myself facing all of the possible consequences of relying on an irreplaceable person.
An unexpected leaving of such an individual can significantly complicate work or even lead to the end of certain projects. Several challenges were immediately laid out in front of me — delivering all current tasks while maintaining quality within two weeks and restructuring the design team simultaneously.
Moreover, this situation not only helped me understand but also made me feel the complexity of working solely with in-house team members.
People can fall ill, experience burnout, go on vacation, or resign out of the blue, but it shouldn’t affect your business’s performance or the quality of the service provided.
Action plan
Understand why they work with us
The first thing we did was look into the reasons why people stay in the agency. We conducted an employee satisfaction analysis to understand what makes our company attractive to talents.
Keeping and developing these things is crucial, so we revamped the performance review structure for maximum transparency in communicating mutual expectations and cooperation opportunities with employees. This now allows us to distribute responsibilities better and provide support when needed.
They need more than just money
Money has long ceased to play a vital role when it comes to choosing a workplace or motivation, so it’s essential for employees to feel support and opportunities for personal and professional growth.
It’s crucial to prioritize the development of a team culture where each member feels their importance but also bears responsibility for collective success. We started fostering independence among designers, focusing on creating a holistic corporate culture where everyone feels like a valuable team member.
We have already highlighted the impact of employee well-being in one of our previous guides on building effective team structures.
Empower them with autonomy
I remember times when I couldn’t take a relatively long vacation, fearing that everything would fall apart if I were absent for more than 3–5 days.
When a team works as a single organism rather than relying on one person, it can solve problems together, search for innovative solutions, and implement best practices.
Benefits we obtained as a result of developing our team’s independence:
- Decision-making efficiency. Our team can now react faster to changes, sometimes making decisions without waiting for a manager. This increases the speed of problem-solving and innovation implementation. Speaking of innovation, we have an excellent piece on incorporating AI into your company workflow. Go check that one out later!
- Initiative and creativity development. Most of our team members have a strong sense of ownership and are responsible for their actions and decision-making. This also leads to the emergence of new ideas and approaches, as they are more inclined to develop their own initiatives and creativity.
- Increased responsibility. Autonomy encourages a sense of responsibility for the results of one’s work, leading to self-motivation and a desire to achieve set goals. And this leads to the next point:
- Leadership development in the team. Promoting autonomy enables team members to develop their leadership skills, taking on more responsibility and guiding others towards achieving common goals.
However, it’s important to remember that autonomy doesn’t mean lacking support or not being in touch with a manager. Support, feedback, and clear goals are crucial elements for the successful operation of an autonomous team.
Activate our talent pool
Our other step was creating a diverse talent pool of designers with various skills, experiences, and locations.
A company where all team members can be replaced is more adaptable to changes in market conditions or the business environment. This made our team stronger and more optimized. Thus, we were no longer limiting ourselves to qualifications or a list of services for clients.
Long story short
A year after, if our best talents decide to move on with changing their workplace, I am as calm as grass. Moreover, I am so proud that the experience they gained inside our agency helped them find the right place to work at the right time.
I am thankful to each person I worked with.
