03 Aug 2023
Moving on to pastures new can be a great thing for most people. They've been in a job long enough, they're going stale, they've run out of challenges, or they simply feel they are not valued or taken seriously by their manager. So, off they trot to their new role.
As their manager, regardless of your personal thoughts about the situation, make sure you get to the bottom of the reason they are going, before they've gone! This can be difficult and confronting as sometimes one of the main factors in their leaving may be their relationship with you.
Even if you think you know the reason, make sure you ask. And even if you think it's because of you, your attitude or management skills, ask them. (Self-development is important for any manager - nobody is perfect, and some managers have no real perception of how they are viewed by their team or their colleagues.)
Offer them an exit interview with another member of the management team if you can, as they may find it easier to express their sentiments about their time at the company to someone who hasn’t been directly involved in their line management. It is important to learn from employees, even when they are leaving, as they will be able to offer valuable insights into how you may be able to improve things for remaining employees.
When the results of the exit interview are conveyed to you, don’t just dismiss the comments out of hand because of who they have come from. Try to take on board any criticisms of your management style, or suggestions where things could have been done better. Do your best to take your own ego out of it and to look at the situation as empathetically as you can, putting yourself in the shoes of the employee while you do so.
You may end up reflecting that you didn’t give them as much credit as they deserved when things went right or that you focused on them too much when things didn’t go well. These are reasonable grievances for someone leaving to hold and they may even think that you have been promoted beyond your abilities.
Don’t bridle at anything they have said, try hard to take it on board, calmly and maturely. If there is anything that is said that particularly hits home, consider taking a training course to ensure that your skills in that area are sharper than they were.
You might be happy the employee is moving on, maybe they cause you problems, challenge your decisions, or indeed you feel threatened by their abilities. But, be sure to find out and if some real problems are identified, do something about them. Otherwise, as we have seen, you might just find that the constant turnover of staff in your key roles becomes unmanageable. At a time where there are major skills gaps in the UK, employee retention has become crucial so losing more employees is untenable, and where will that leave you?
