How successful organisations were at engaging their employees in 2020, will show up in how much employee-churn they experience as the employment market recovers.
What do you do when one of your employee unexpectedly resigns?
Whether they are linchpins or flight risk employees, it helps to have a plan in place in the event your employee resigns.
We identify the 2 types of employees you may have in your team and what you can do when there is an unexpected resignation.
Linchpins
Some team members are more difficult to replace than others. This isn't necessarily a statement about their work ethic; instead, it focusses on their experience in the company and the skills and knowledge they've picked up along the way.
Employees that are difficult to replace are sometimes called 'linchpin employees' and, while they're essential to your company, they can sometimes place you in a precarious situation.
What is a linchpin employee?
A Linchpin employee is an employee who is vital to the performance of your team because:
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They are a central point (or the only point) of company knowledge. E.g., no one else knows what they know.
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They undertake duties that no one else in the team can do. As a result, if the linchpin were absent, production or productivity would be affected. To fix these issues, someone else would need to be trained to complete the linchpin employee's tasks.
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They could create a bottleneck in operations if they were absent. Part or all of your processes or production could slow down.
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They have information, skills, or knowledge that others do not. This knowledge makes them integral to the organisation and very difficult to replace.
What happens if I have a linchpin employee in my team?
It's important to remember that you shouldn't panic. This person is likely a linchpin because they've been a particularly remarkable team member. You should never forget to celebrate your best employees; however, you should also make sure that your team structure minimises risk. In other words, it is essential to consider what would happen if you were unable to retain your linchpin employee in the future.
To solve this dilemma, you should take proactive steps to identify the tasks and activities that your linchpin undertakes. After doing so, you can then work towards implementing plans that ensure your business can still carry out the linchpin's tasks and activities in the case of an unexpected resignation.
Linchpin employees, then, aren't necessarily a bad thing for your company. However, it is vital to have plans in place to protect your company's productivity should there be an unexpected resignation.
Flight-risk Employees
It's essential to have plans in place in case one of your employees suddenly decides to tender their resignation.
To have these plans, you must also learn to identify employees who would be deemed a 'flight risk' to either earmark that employee for retention or prepare your business for their absence.
What is a flight risk employee?
A flight risk team member is an employee who is likely to tender their resignation.
When considering 'flight risk' employees it is important to remember that not all resignations or employee departures are a terrible thing.
Sometimes when a team member resigns, it can be an opportunity to improve the skill set of your team with your next hire.
Who could be a flight risk employee?
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Employees who are unengaged or have high rates of absenteeism
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Employees who are significantly under remunerated. (Under remunerated employees are very likely to resign and move on once they understand what they can earn in the marketplace. It never pays to be cheap when hiring quality staff.)
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Employees who feel there is no pathway to promotion ahead
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Employees who experience frequent conflict
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Employees who appear bored
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Employees who are not learning
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Employees who don't have their basic needs met
What do I do if I have a flight risk employee?
It's important to remember that not all resignations are bad for the team. Sometimes, the resignation of a team member is an opportunity to improve and upgrade your team.
With this in mind, you must consider if you should earmark your flight risk employee for retention.
If they should be earmarked for retention, consider the following:
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Ask what elements of their role keep them satisfied and what aspects frustrate them
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Ask them what they would like to learn and master in the period ahead
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Discussing their career plans
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Find out where they want to go in your organisation
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Discuss the source of conflict and friction
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Empower them to drive change and improvements
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Ask them what would make them feel re-engaged
With flight risk employees, it's important to remember that not all resignations will negatively impact your team and company performance. However, if you determine that you should keep your flight risk employee, you should take care to identify the issues that make them a flight risk, convincing that team member to remain with your company.
Dealing with Unexpected Resignations
Experiencing someone's resignation (especially if it is an unexpected and resignation) can be challenging.
When receiving an unexpected or unwanted resignation, most managers feel as though their back is against the wall. However, you should understand that you do still have some options available.
The importance of a talent review
Hopefully, you already undertook an annual talent review. This review is a session in which you carefully marked out which employees are your highest performers and should be retained.
This talent review allows you to consider which employees are deserving of internal promotion and which employees should be regarded as a flight risk.
If you've already done this, then you'll know if the person submitting their resignation is on the 'retain list'.
If you did not – make sure you book a talent planning session with us here. We love helping leaders de-risk their operations and improve their ability to respond proactively to human capital headaches.
Here are the steps you can take
Decide (or know from prior planning) if the employee is someone you should try to retain. If they are:
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Thank the employee for raising their resignation with you
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Gently and authentically express that you would like to discuss their resignation with them and understand why they intend to move on.
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Move the conversation to a private location.
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Understand that the employee has likely been anxious about tendering their resignation and will be in a stressed state.
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Be calm, compassionate and considerate in your responses.
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Make the time to understand the root cause/s of why they intend to move on.
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Diagnose if it is something you can rectify or change for the employee (while also considering the commercial viability of that solution).
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Discuss a plan with the employee.
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Ask them to consider it overnight.
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Meet again to discuss the employee's thoughts and feedback.
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If an agreement can be reached, be sure to take action on it as quickly as possible because your employee will be watching you to make sure you are 'good to your word'.
Unexpected or unwanted resignations happen. But by having an effective human capital plan in place, you can quickly identify which resignations you will accept and which resignations you will strive to turn around.
During a resignation discussion, you must be gracious and professional.
However, suppose you do find that you must accept a resignation (or you are unable to turn around an unwanted resignation). In that case, it is vital to consider how you can improve your team's capabilities and performance by leveraging your next hire.
Don't just hire to replace the resigning team member. Hire to bring in an employee who will set a higher benchmark and bring new skills to your team!
Need help to hire the next great team member for your team? Book a strategy session with the team from Kingston Human Capital.
