You never saw it coming. Is that what you want us to believe?
You came to work one day and, in an instant, one of your very best people just quit on you.
They said they had something important to share, and you asked them to hang on a sec while you freshened your coffee.
Then they sat down in your office and looked you right in the eye to explain how they were moving on to another opportunity.
You nearly choked on your next sip.
You had been their manager, mentor and savior. You were so sure things were going great (which they probably were).
You asked them all the time how things were going, and they said nothing but positive stuff.
They’d never lie to you, would they?
Well, they just did (sort of).
They just left you for a competitor, and you feel like you got sucker punched … right in the face.
It’s said good people leave bad managers, and they most certainly do.
But good people also leave good managers, and even great managers.
Even you!
So don’t be surprised when it happens.
In spite of all our efforts, good people DO leave great bosses.
Here are some reasons why.
It’s The Nature Of The Work World
LinkedIn recently asked 18,000 gainfully employed professionals what would it take for them to consider leaving their current employer.
The top answer really shouldn’t surprise anyone: Better compensation and benefits.
Coming in a close second: Better work/life balance.
And No. 3 on the list: Greater opportunities for advancement.
No surprises there. Everybody wants those things, right?
But here is a surprising finding from the same survey.
LinkedIn research consultant Matt Grunewald estimated that 85% of the workforce is either actively looking for a job, or open to talking to a recruiter about what’s out there.
It may not seem like a big shift, but the number was 80% just a couple years back. So clearly, if opportunity is knocking, good people are (if not opening the door) at least peeking to see who’s there.
It’s OK To A-S-S-U-M-E
Forget the adage about people who assume. Go ahead and assume all your people are looking.
It’s better that way. Even when they look you in the eye and say they are not looking.
Psychologists tell us that by the age of 4, children can look a parent dead in the eye and lie to them.
So, it’s not personal. It’s innate. It’s a survival thing.
Good People Want To Be Above Average
There are a gazillion surveys like LinkedIn’s that show good people go job hunting for better salaries.
So beware: If you are paying a “competitive salary,” that only means you are right in the average with most of your competitors.
Problem? Good people like to be above average.
So, competitive salaries stop being an important retention tool the moment people leave you for more money.
It’s Not ALWAYS About Money
Ever notice you never know who to believe when it comes to surveys?
Here’s another survey that kind of turns things on its head when it comes to why good employees leave.
When employers were asked what they think employees want, here were the answers.
- Good wages
- Job security
- Promotion/growth opportunities
- Good working conditions
- Interesting work
But when employees were asked what they wanted, they said:
- Full appreciation for work done
- Feeling “in” on things
- Sympathetic help on personal problems
- Job security
- Good wages
So you can’t always trust what you read (except this). But good managers are people you keep in touch with even after you leave a position.
You can take heart in that, and you can take advantage of that.
Here’s how.
The Grass Is Greener Where You Water It
Every year Forbes magazine publishes its list of the Best Places to Work. The 2015 list came out at the start of the year, so now would be a good time to poll those employees and see how accurate the list really was.
It includes places like Google, Costco, LL Bean and (this is not a typo) Marathon Petroleum.
The problem, of course, is that those companies only have so many openings and so many employees. We can’t all work there, or manage there.
Consider this:
- Eventually, new and better opportunities will come along for your more talented people.
- At some point your talented folks will naturally tire of what they are doing and they will want to do something else.
- At some point a job offer will come along and your star won’t know whether to stay or go.
But, if and when a star decides to leave, you just have to understand and hope that someday they’ll return.
It does happen.
And whether they ever come back will depend on how you acted when they left.
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I noticed that you did not mention a counter-offer or incentive to have them employee stay. Is that not done any more?
That’s a keen observation, Michele. Thanks. The story was written with the idea that the employee’s departure was a fait accompli. But yes, by all means, a counteroffer may be just the right move in some instances.
I’ve found counteroffers to be insulting. I’ve had (2) really close coworkers leave, and they were open enough to discuss with me while considering the option to leave. If you value the members of your team, you respect that they made the right decision for them in that moment. The best option you have for them to come back is to be supportive of that decision. Providing a counteroffer is insulting in (3) possible ways:
1. It tells them that you think they can be bought – that more money trumps any other reason they may be leaving. (not to mention that if you are a good manager and they are leaving for higher compensation, chances are you can’t afford the counteroffer anyway).
2. Counteroffers tell your employee that you don’t trust them to make wise decisions. Who wants to stay to work for someone who doesn’t trust them?
3. If they are worth the counteroffer now, why weren’t they good enough to be paid at that level prior to resigning. This goes to the point that you don’t want to be paying the “average” for a given position.
Counteroffers are a short-sighted mechanism with the sole purpose of trying to make amends for a previous grievance. How long before a new grievance (such as salary disparity or organizational dysfunction) surfaces? Often money can only compensate for organizational dysfunction only so long.
Monte,
It’s clear you speak from experience. So I am wondering, in your view, is it ever a good idea to sit down with a departing employee and ask: “What would it take to keep you here?”
Hi Rich,
Yes, I think it is critical to sit down with them to discuss what it would take. For me, these were two of my best employees, and two of my closest friends here at work. It was the hardest decision of their lives to leave, and they said it would be the perfect job if I were to leave and continue to be their manager. I have always told my team that I am here to be their advocate – both personally and professionally. While we try to separate those two aspects of our lives, they are interconnected in that if a person is unhealthy in their personal life, it will impact their work performance. If their work life is unhealthy, it will impact their personal life and then of course further degrade their performance at work. These employees were rock stars and they knew it. They knew it because we worked closely on some of the most challenging work the company had to offer, and I commended them on their accomplishments, and we worked as a team.
We had built a foundation of trust that allowed them to approach me to discuss the possibility of leaving prior to submitting their resignation. We discussed what it was they were looking for, I would remind them of their opportunities if they were to stay. I talked with management to discuss our options, but they were limited. In the end, they left because of exactly what you stated in your well written article – they were going to be paid $35k more, were going to be given new roles that do not exist or have a reason to exist here, and those opportunities offered a better work/life balance than they had been experiencing. From a professional standpoint, it’s tough. From a personal standpoint, I still keep in touch with them both, and I am encouraged in seeing that they are happy – able to spend more time with their families. There is no question that it was the right move for them to leave for a time. Had they stayed, I have no question that the work/life balance would have taken a toll mentally and then affected their performance. This would have taken a great employee with an exceptional reputation and it would have damaged both.
So yes, while it is important to sit down with them to see what it would take, I think more often than not, the decision is already made. This information is still valuable to take to HR and management to enact change such that others will not leave. Hopefully, in time, they will return as so frequently happens.
Great article. Very well written.
Thanks Chris. Please feel free to share it with folks you think might find it worth reading.