How To Deal With The After-Effects Of A Key Employee’s Exit ?
“Employee Exit” is something that is unavoidable but making the whole process comforting for the parting employee will show your sheer professionalism and will help in creating a fine organizational picture among other employees too.
We’ve all been there!
You have a wonderful team at office who is working extremely effectively and things are going very smooth. Your customers are happy and the company is witnessing a spring phase. And then suddenly, one day a star employee enters into your office and utters that dangerous statement: “There’s something I want to talk about!”
Handling resignations is not an easy task for senior managers and HR professionals, but this is that bitter truth which every HR has to face. Losing a team’s key member is both unsettling and emotional. By handling this surprise in the right way, the consequential problems can easily be alleviated, thereby setting a powerful example for your team.
#1 Listen & try to understand the reason for leaving:
Don’t avoid asking the reason why that employee decided to leave your organization. Is it either the compensation or lack of growth opportunities or company work culture? Understanding employee departure reasons will drastically help in making your organization a better place to work, controlling the attrition rate for future.
#2 Look for stay back possibilities :
You definitely don’t want your key employee to part ways from your organization, so have a personal discussion with him/her and discuss whether there’s anything that’ll make them stay back? Even if the conditions are not worth fulfilling, try to make the exit easy and comforting for the employee. Remember, the reaction that you give after hearing the news might affect employee’s last days at work. He/she will not only leave on an unhappy note but might also show disinterest in finishing the unfinished responsibilities.
#3 Plan to address the person’s decision among others:
Employer or HR must communicate the person’s resignation to other team members in the correct manner and at the right time. This will not only help them understand the current situation but will also give them enough time to manage work accordingly, to make the departure as less damaging as they can make it. Unless the resignation is not on bad terms, it shouldn’t be kept as a secret from team members and key stakeholders.
#4 Have a proper transition plan in place:
The day-to-day responsibilities of the person leaving must be transitioned in a very systematic manner. Consult with the team members or the reporting manager for ideal candidates and let the selected candidate shadow resignee for some days to better understand things from scratch. Also, make a practice that the person leaving provide a written document of project details and other key information that is vital from the projects view point. This kind of document will act like a help manual and must contain all the responsibilities that person was handling.
#5 Respect their success and congratulate them for their new opportunity:
It’s the manager’s responsibility to wish the departing employee good luck for their future endeavors. While some might appreciate a farewell party, there are some who would like a quieter send-off. Showing such courtesy and support will make the leaving employee happy; you never know when your paths might align again in future.
Employee resignation definitely creates uncertainties and unavoidably leads to stress. But, the way managers handle this period, without burning any bridges, create a huge impact on rest of the organization. Remember, making the goodbyes as warm as welcomes will only add up to your Organizational Strengths and you’ll eventually receive a better employee perception towards the company.
