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As Paul sank back into his luxury office chair, he began to wonder where he had gone wrong. His top performer had just handed him a white envelope, confirming his worst fears.
When a member of staff asks for a meeting out of the blue, it is rarely good news. And for Paul (not his real name) this meeting would mean losing a kingpin of the organisation. What should he do? Throw money at the situation or let them go?
Don Fulford, a senior consultant at recruitment firm H2R, says when someone resigns it is a reflection of an organisation's career development plan and retention strategy.
His advice to Paul is to meet the employee as quickly as possible to find out why they want to leave and see if it can be fixed.
"If you have a proper career development programme in place for each member of staff then you would understand what their motivations are and where they are trying to get to - from a career perspective and a remuneration perspective," Fulford says.
Perhaps a good manager would have seen the signs of a disgruntled or unhappy employee?
"Sometimes, it is not about seeing the signs," says Fulford. "It is about managing the process. And, if the manager is busy, they may miss the signs anyway. People will keep their plans pretty close to their chest.
"But if you have a formal process in place, open dialogue and a plan for managing that person's career within your business - and you keep that alive and well - then you shouldn't need to watch for the signs."
However, says Fulford, there are exceptions, such as when people want a lifestyle change or decide to move to a different part of the world.
"In which case, retaining the person will be out of your control," he says. "But if they are going off to a competitor then that is pretty mercenary. So I'd question if I wanted them in my business.
"However, if it is a good career move for them, and you can understand why they are going, then you have to sit back, accept it and wish them good luck - let them go with your best wishes."
Fulford has clear thoughts about throwing money at the problem by making a counter offer for staff to stay.
"When people resign, it is rarely about money - even if that's the reason they give for leaving," says Fulford. "But if they are just leaving to follow the money then you have decide if you really want to keep them.
"A manager would have to ask themselves, 'Is this the type of person I want in the company?' If it is then that's fine. At the very least, it might muddy the waters a little and help buy the manager some time to recruit a replacement."
But it is not a long-term solution, says Fulford. Once an employee realises they can hold the company to ransom they'll be back with the same story later.
Carol Dallimore, general manager of recruitment firm OCG, agrees.
"If a top performer is not feeling they are being looked after financially, a manager would hear about it before the decision to resign is made," she says.
"Money only makes up a small percentage of the reasons why people leave jobs. Usually people resign to follow better career options, with better learning and development opportunities or a better culture." Dallimore says that even if a manager offers someone another $10,000 to stay, they will still leave once they have become used to spending that extra money.
"When people get a pay rise, their standard of living rises to reflect that and, before they know where they are, they are thinking of leaving again," says Dallimore.
"If someone speaks to a recruitment firm and says they want to leave their current employer for a particular reason, but then accepts a pay rise to stay, they will typically be job hunting again in six months for the same reasons they started looking around in the first place.
"Those reasons could be because they are not being extended, properly managed or they feel they have nothing more to learn there."
One way to hang on to staff during the recruitment process is to negotiate the person's exit from the company and have them stay longer than contracted, says Fulford.
"The manager should look at his staff development plan and see what existing people can step into that role," he says.
"If there is a person that is 90 per cent there then move them into the role. However, if there is no one suitable on staff then you'd have to look at contracting someone in while the recruitment process gets under way."
Dallimore says every resignation requires the manager or employer to re-evaluate the job becoming vacant.
"It is good to get feedback from the person moving on so you can find out whether the role still has the right structure, if it is composed correctly and whether some elements of the job can possibly be merged with another one to make someone else's life more interesting."
A lot of organisations, says Fulford, do take the opportunity to move a step back and re-evaluate roles when they become vacant.
He says it is a good idea to get out the original job description and see if it still matches up.
"The person leaving may have been critical to the business, but their job may not have been," he says.
"Managers have to ask themselves whether they were performing the role that they are recruiting for?
"Things change and what was correct three years ago may no longer be relevant. So a review of the role is essential before the recruitment process starts."
Fulford says if companies have clear career paths laid out for staff and take an interest in their employees' progression then managers will not be put on the back foot with surprise resignations. "Companies should look at their staff and see what opportunities they can offer them," he says.
* Contact Steve Hart at www.stevehart.co.nz
