I’ve handled hundreds of job offers on behalf of candidates and it still surprises me that organisations often react very negatively to employee exits, as if they were unexpected, instead of accepting them as a natural consequence of employing people.
Of course, organisations should work hard and invest heavily to retain their best employees, however there are often genuine opportunities when an employee will leave to pursue bigger and better things, it should not be looked upon negatively.
👉🏻 An organisations biggest advocates (and critics) are their ex-employees. Make sure they’re your biggest supporters and not detractors!
👉🏻 The way you treat a departing employee does not go unnoticed by other staff. Negatively treating a departing employee will have a negative impact on the morale of their remaining colleagues.
👉🏻 Boomerang hires are common, and employees may come back in the future as experienced, skilled, and motivated as they were before, or even more so.
The positives in a “positive exit” far outweigh any negatives for both the employer and departing employee.
People naturally flow in and out of organisations and think it’s important that leaders should make employee departures less uncomfortable and more acceptable.
