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July 11, 2019
No employer wants to think about it, but on occasion your very best employees may be planning an exit strategy. You’ve likely worked hard to find these top employees, and their knowledge and skills are an asset to your business. Keeping them long-term is your best case scenario! If you can identify signs of unrest in a top performer, you may able to intervene and change their mind before it’s too late.
Five red flags a worker is considering a new job
Since people react differently to stress, not all employees may exhibit all of these behaviors. The key is to look for behavior change that has become more negative and possibly detrimental. Any of the following may be an indication an employee is getting ready to move on:
Decreased productivity. The person is completing less work, missing deadlines or making more mistakes than usual. The quality and timeliness of their work has dipped.
Fewer contributions during team meetings. If the person used to speak up and offer suggestions and is no longer doing this, it could be an indication they’re considering a job change.
Reluctance to commit to long-term deadlines. It makes sense that a worker who is planning to be gone by a certain date wouldn’t be willing to commit to a long-term project or a deadline months in the future.
Negativity. A worker who was previously content and positive may become negative if something has upset them. You might notice them becoming quick to anger, argumentative, impatient or moody.
Arriving late or leaving early. When an employee is mentally checked out, they no longer care about punctuality or fulfilling standard work hours. They drag themselves to work, take extra long breaks and run for the door at the end of the day.
What you can do?
It’s possible that when an employee has made up their mind to leave, there’s nothing you can do. Perhaps they’ve found a job better-suited to their career goals, or maybe they’ve become bored. The best way to find out for sure is to simply schedule a meeting with the employee, gently note what you’ve noticed and ask them if everything is going OK. You can respond to any concerns by formulating a plan together.
Take note
It’s not always a good idea to attempt to keep an employee who’s planning to leave. It’s highly possible they’ll attempt to leave again in the future. Your best course of action could be to pay attention and make plans for how to replace that worker, if need be.
Check out Inter-Connect
When it’s time to staff up, Inter-Connect will work with you to understand your staffing needs. We place qualified light industrial and office staff—and we’re waiting to hear from you! To learn more, contact us today!
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