One Of Your Key Players Just Quit! What Now?

by Liz Seyi Digital marketing manager

One Of Your Key Players Just Quit! What Now?

A valuable employee opting to leave your company is probably the last thing you need. Understandably, you may be disappointed or even aggrieved at their decision. Ultimately, though, life goes on, and you need to have a plan as to what happens next.

Ask any number of Recruitment Companies, and they’ll tell you that your life in the aftermath of a key worker leaving will be made so much harder if you fail to steady the ship in their wake. It simply creates the risk that more people will want to leave

So, what are the most important steps to take as soon as you know that a certain staffer is on the way out?

Hold An Exit Interview

If one of your vital employees decides to leave on their own terms, it’ll help greatly to have a face-to-face meeting with them.

Of course, you’ll want to know why they’re choosing to leave. However, you’ll also wish to be informed on what you could have done to improve the situation for them before they decided to leave.

Also ask whether your firm gave them the support and resources they felt they needed, and what things they would change about the business if they were in charge. This process will at least give you some vital insight from a person with intimate knowledge of your company’s operations.

Devise A Clear Plan Going Forward

Before you let the team know of the news, you should establish a clear sense of who will be taking over the various responsibilities held by the departing employee.

After all, workplace morale and productivity can be damaged if you announce that a team member is leaving without providing clarity to the rest of your employees on how your company will continue to succeed without them.

Tell Your Employees The News – All At Once

Once you’ve got your transition plan in place, you should inform the rest of your workers of the employee’s decision to leave. A proper announcement should be made to the entire team – otherwise, you’re risking the news seeping out as gossip, which could have a disruptive effect on your employees.

Plan in advance what you will say and how you will say it, so that your team members can swiftly turn their focus towards the future.

Provide The Support Your Staffers Need

Not every member of your team will necessarily be able to easily adapt to the loss of a leader. This is precisely why you should schedule the time to support them during this vital transition, so that they can better get to grips with any change in their duties.

This isn’t a time to leave your Remaining Employees Floundering and having to learn ‘on the job’ to compensate for their former co-worker’s sudden absence. It’s a time to be there for them, so that they aren’t shortly eyeing the exit door as well.

What other advice would we give? Oh yes – stay positive. The world isn’t over simply because one of your employees has left, and there’s plenty of opportunity to spin this apparent negative into a positive for your company and its remaining employees. It’s a time, in short, when your leadership is needed more than ever.

Why not help the transition along after the loss of a valued employee by engaging the services of one of the premier recruitment companies today – Webrecruit? Give us a call now, on 01392 829400, to learn more about the solutions we can provide.