Three Signs Your Employee Might Quit and What To Do About It
Over the last 15 months many perspectives on what makes a “good job” have changed in the workforce.
The virtual world leaves talent wide open to opportunities no longer limited by geography.
Knowing this can give attentive leaders the push they need to be proactive to retain their best performers.
In today’s short video, I’ll share how to recognize telltale signs you have an employee planning their exit and how you can work to retain them.
Video Transcript
Hi, I'm Cory Colton from inflection point Coaching.
Today we're going to talk about the kinds of shifts we're seeing as we come out of the pandemic.
As life during and after the pandemic causes shifts for how organizations and employees are working, it may also cause employees to reevaluate their careers to align more meaningfully with their purpose and values.
In addition, the new world of remote work is opening opportunities for our team members to find different roles with companies outside of their current geography.
I believe that in the next 6-12 months we will see an enormous movement of employees out of their current roles and into new ones.
When an employee on your team is getting ready to leave, there are two to three potential signs that all managers should be aware of. We can think of the acronym SAD, or, more appropriately, SS, AA, DD to remember the signs.
The first sign, the S in SAD, is screaming silence - when a usually engaged and contributing team member starts to become quiet, withdraws from conversations, and shows less concern about the work of the team.
While they may be quieter in group settings, they also may become more vocal in the meetings outside the real meetings.
And when those folks are in meetings but not contributing, their silence is deafening.
The second part, the A in SAD is acute absence. This happens when a normally reliable team member will suddenly miss meetings, be late to meetings, leave them early, or when they are present, they really aren't there at all.
They may have unexplained blocks of time on their calendar, usually marked as a private meeting, and they stop stepping up in crunch time to help the team.
The third sign, the D in SAD, I call disruptive disengagement. This is when a normally collaborative, pleasant, engaged team member begins to voice disagreement, detachment, and disillusionment, either loudly or surreptitiously in private meetings or colleague interactions.
The impulse to quit, is less often due to pay and benefits, and more often due to employees not feeling engaged, respected, and valued or involved with decisions that impact their work. Or feeling that their work doesn’t contribute meaningfully to the team, or to the organization.
Rather than focusing first on trying to get the SAD team member to stay, it’s best to have an open and honest conversation to understand what is happening for the person behind the role.
The issue can simply be a personal one, where the collision of work and personal life is causing anxiety or stress for them, and they happen to be happy, out at work.
Being curious and asking some coaching questions might help to clarify.
You see, the real issue is not that they are desiring to leave, or that they're disengaged. The issue is that they haven't come to you as their leader first to discuss it.
There may be a trust or a psychological safety issue that needs to be brought to light. Curiosity and compassion, and a coping mindset will help to establish trust and openness.
As a leader if you are dealing with any of these issues as the pandemic starts to open up work again, please reach out to me for a consult session I'm here to help.
Recognize the SAD Signs and Retain Your Talent
A major takeaway from this pandemic is simply that your talent has had the time and space to rethink what a “good fit” role looks like to them.
If you need an assist identifying gaps to bridge so you can switch your talent from SAD to satisfied, reach out and schedule a free strategy session with me.