The Great Resignation is for real, and it is happening. Even as we start to emerge from this ‘employee-employer’ crisis, recent research indicates that we are nowhere close to the end. The pandemic got employees to start reevaluating their work-life balance – in terms of seeking a renewed definition of success, reskilling and retraining opportunities, more flexibility, and supportive work culture.
When some of the employees are leaving, there is a disruption in the workflow. The impact on the team dynamic every time a person gives notice is huge. As leaders and managers, the best way to restore the lost equilibrium is by taking earnest steps to recognize the employees for who they are and how they are valuable to the overall organizational growth. And regardless of how demotivating the situation is, employers should see the silver lining of the ‘attrition cloud’ and capitalize on this trend by making their brand presence stronger through their exiting employees.
Experts at LinkedIn believe that there are ways to create an all-around positive experience when an employee gives notice. They say that “for the employer, it is an opportunity to demonstrate to the team that they will be treated fairly up to their last day, preserve a good culture instead of engaging into conflict and secure strong relationships with former employees going forward”.
Dealing With an Employee Resignation
When an employee gives notice, it is imperative to make their transition successful and ensure that the individual continues to contribute until their last workday. Some of the strategies that organizations can look at to manage the morale of the leaving employees to make them feel relevant up to the point of their exit are:
- Not minimizing the moment to an exit interview
Managers who go beyond the exit interview for their employees to find other ways to learn a thing or two from their departure can help discern whether one resignation was a single point or the beginning of a pattern. Initiating a ‘two-sided’ conversation about what can be done differently can pave the way for the legacy they are leaving behind and improve your team camaraderie.
- Being a respectful, fair, and supportive manager
With statistics indicating that employees leave their manager and not the organization, introspection on the non-transactional, emotionally intelligent aspects such as respect, fairness, and support make the process less daunting and foster a culture of trust. LinkedIn explains that “this experience can be converted into an opportunity to demonstrate to the team that they will be treated fairly up to their last day, preserve a good culture instead of engaging into conflict and secure strong relationships with former employees going forward”.
- Providing Opportunities For Self-Development
When a leaving employee is exposed to opportunities for self-development supplemented by training on modern technologies and trends, they will grow to be more valuable to your organization, and themselves. They will leave – knowing that you wish their well-being which can breed gratitude and loyalty to your brand.
- Offering Praise, Recognition, and Feedback
A constructive feedback culture for employees along with an appreciation for their contribution increases the value proposition for the employer. Employees receiving gratitude and praise for a job well done is core to the feeling of being valued and acknowledged at any level.
How peer coaching helps employers stay positive when employees give notice
When viewed from the lens of employee experience, just money and benefits are not cutting it. The feeling of their presence being dismissed, and their contributions devalued, leaves them with the thought that their relationship with the employer was just ‘transactional’ – lacking the human touch. concern.
A survey called Key Trends Impacting Today’s Workplace that involved over 200,000 employees in more than 500 organizations aimed to explore various aspects of management. However, the most interesting insight was peer motivation(20%) and feeling encouraged and recognized(13%). Keeping the motivation levels of employees high, especially in this transition period is a cornerstone for team success and organizational evolution.
Justin Blanchard, co-founder of web hosting solution ServerMania Inc. believes that once you know a team member is leaving, it is not the time to be burning bridges. In exchange for a smooth transition to the next milestone of their careers, employees must also extend the organization the same consideration to ensure that there is as little disorder as possible.
When it comes to ‘going that extra mile’, the overall cultural ecosystem plays a pivotal role in determining how employees can leave on a high note. Peer coaching has proved to be one of the most effective mechanisms for building stronger work relationships. Organizations are cognizant of the ‘human-centric’ nuance in peer coaching and the progressively profound impact that it can have on motivation and overall employee development. The opportunity to elevate the social, experiential, and psychological nature of peer coaching makes it uniquely positioned to address the most pressing demands of the modern workplace paradigm.
In the context of today’s work dynamic, the power of the peers is too big to ignore, and organizations must invest in peer coaching practices to help evaluate high-value techniques to focus on people. Numly believes that peer coaching helps discover significant opportunities to reverse the tide. Our coaching models help organizations focus on organic peer-to-peer interactions and peer camaraderie that set a foundation for elevating employee engagement.
Many organizations seem to have a dramatic response when an employee gives notice. These responses can trigger unhealthy behaviors like second-guessing and reassessing their position, trustworthiness, or integrity. The unique value of peer coaching lies in recognizing behavioral patterns to the leaving employee and setting a precedent for those who remain. Peer coaching enables productive interactions with the leaving employee and provides mutually beneficial support throughout this transition phase.
In these ambiguous times, the only real metric for success is to ensure that the time on hand is used for learning and growing together. The best possible conclusion of an employee’s journey in an organization would be, therefore, to grow them into their brand ambassadors.
