Lessons Learned From Your Top Employee Quitting

If you have lost your top performer recently, that can be a real blow to recover from. Your business will likely feel the impact of their departure, as well as their co-workers and the overall morale of your team. But sometimes, there’s nothing you can do but learn from the experience. Not everyone is a lifetime employee. Here are the lessons you should focus on based on the reason your top employee quit.

Are Your Employees Engaged?

A common reason that employees, even well-compensated ones, decide to move on is a lack of engagement. Employees want to do work that keeps them engaged and intellectually stimulated. It’s up to managers to stay on top of the overall morale and engagement of each team member, as well as their performance. Often these seemingly disconnected metrics have direct correlations. Creating an open conversation about goal setting and career development will bring the long-term interests of an employee into the forefront of the conversation.

Understanding the interplay of skills and how team members provide value within the context of the projects they work on is critical. This provides the information you need as a manager to directly engage and maintain their interest in the work. Offering the opportunity for regular one-on-one meetings or mentorship programs can help make employees feel their leadership is fully invested in their success and overall happiness.

Do You Need to Adjust Your Communication Style?

Managers have a big part to play in how happy employees are on the job. The modern employee wants to be a part of the decision-making process, and be communicated with rather than spoken to or “managed.” You can provide those opportunities and adjust your communication style as needed to help retain the sort of employee that will drive your business forward. Focus on clarity, and making sure your management style is complementary to their needs as an employee. These simple adjustments might even bring some new energy into the workforce, as an engaging corporate culture is sure to benefit the team.

How Are You Showing Your Appreciation?

If the answer to this question is with a paycheck, you may very well lose your top performers simply out of feeling unappreciated. Showing you value their efforts and skills beyond financial compensation is important. The truth is there will always be a company willing to pay just a little more for their efforts. You need to develop a relationship with your employee that makes them stick around for the long term.

Appreciation can take the form of financial compensation, but often it is simply about recognition. Each employee has a different way in which they feel appreciated, and managers are tasked with finding out how their top performers prefer to be recognized and rewarded for their successes.

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