As employers, we all know the feeling when one of your high performing team members comes to you and says they need to tell you something…. sweaty palms and lump in your throat as you prepare for the words that you will hear next… ‘I am tendering my resignation and I have accepted another role’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whilst this always feels personal, the reality is NOT always that, ‘people leave leaders not businesses\u2019. In fact often people can have a great leader and that is why they have stayed as long as they have, despite challenges that are wider spread with the business, culture or completely out of their leader’s control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A resignation should ideally never come as a surprise if you are close to your people, are having regular discussions about their performance, motivation and personal success factors and challenges. But again, this is not always transparent and particularly with high performers, this may be an unwanted and untimely surprise and no doubt, in some facet, it will feel a little personal…. that’s a normal reaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how to react now with their resignation ? ‘What you do next is the measure of a leader’.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is largely accepted in our industry that the counter offer is a desperate and largely unsuccessful mid to long term strategy, which can both backfire and have a knock on effect with other team members and from a perception perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a few key flaws with this approach to consider:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. What are you actually trying to achieve? If you are trying to get through a very short window for the business, with the knowledge this person will leave in the near future and you need them to complete a piece of work or be present through a challenging time then perhaps this strategy will be effective. However, this is also exceptionally self-serving if you are then dissuading someone from a great next step and opportunity for them, in order to meet your short-term needs and where this will not enhance their future in any meaningful way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. There is a high risk that the person resigning feels insulted by the timing of throwing more money at them at the last hour. This further solidifies their desire to leave, now doing so with a level of resentment that they were not better valued and their concerns or aspirations not recognised and acknowledged earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. In the event where they accept the counter offer, after having gone through a lengthy process and thinking around their next steps and stay purely for financial reasons, without any of the other reasons they have resigned for actually being addressed there is an almost certainty that this will lead to a further resignation in the following 6 months. It is very rare that people leave a role and business purely based on financials and even rarer that this will have not being voiced as a concern much earlier in their thinking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether you believe a counter offer is the right approach, this is increasingly a key tactic for employers attempting to retain great talent. We suggest that there are some key questions employers should be asking to prevent losing staff rather than attempt to ‘band aid’ the situation at the last hour. This appears as a desperate act, without due care of consideration for all parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Questions to Ask Yourself Before Delivering a Counter Offer:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Do we really want to retain this person? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The reality is that not all employees are created equal and that at some stage people may be too dis engaged and too much water has passed under the bridge. This may not be worth trying to turn around for all parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Am I\/ are we acting in their best interest ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When an individual has gone through a lengthy recruitment and thought process around their future and a next step, they have taken this seriously and had good reasons for doing so. If they stay – will you be moving them forward or in fact keeping them stagnant. Think about what you would want from a coach and mentor and whether the reasons to stay will ultimately advance them or whether you are encouraging them to turn down an opportunity that could really impact their future for the better, in all respects (this could be around life balance, career aspirations, pathway or simply just something that plays better to them strengths and passion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Am I being fair to their peers and the team by offering this counter?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Think carefully about the journey ahead, in terms of the time you will invest to retain this person from here on and how this may be perceived by others in the team (do not kid yourself – these things come out, and this may encourage others to push the envelope. Does this create a precedent that if you resign, you will be offered more money to stay? Move with caution to not create a culture where you resign to get financial uplifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Should you take a different approach to how your business reviews remuneration, manages expectations, coaches for success and has courageous conversations with your people?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Great Leaders engage, have open and regular discussions about what matters to people and how to retain, motivate , stretch and challenge your people, with a culture that allows for growth and encourages people to reach their limits with you. Have the conversation around what is next for them, even if this means they now need to move outside of your business for their next advancement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To Counter Offer or Not to Counter Offer and What to Do Now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Firstly – acknowledge that this must have been given a lot of thought and ask them to share their reasons for this, in a safe space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly – establish if they in fact are comfortable with the decision and are making, is this based on thoughtful and compelling reasons versus emotion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly – Consider the investment, energy and tools available to you to support them and move them forward if they stay, and if you can afford or in fact even address their issues in totality? If the answer if no, or uncertain then you should absolutely not even attempt to dissuade the individual, from what may be a move in the right direction for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately – if they have reached the end of the road with you and the business then you need to accept this graciously and rather ensure they leave with no ill feeling and on a positive note for you, the business, them and for the wider team, avoiding any further ripples from their exit and that those around them are safeguarded from any negativity during the handover and exit period. Learnings can be taken and applied pro-actively for others in the team at this point and how you handle this will be watched closely by your team and the wider business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ‘Sometimes letting people go graciously and with thanks for their contribution is the absolute right thing to do and will speak volumes to all’<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n As employers, we all know the feeling when one of your high performing team members comes to you and says they need to tell you something…. sweaty palms and lump in your throat as you prepare for the words that you will hear next… ‘I am tendering my resignation and I have accepted another role’. Whilst […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,16,13],"tags":[],"qubely_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-scaled.jpeg",2560,1707,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-1200x750.jpeg",1200,750,true],"portraits":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-540x320.jpeg",540,320,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-300x200.jpeg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-768x512.jpeg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-1024x683.jpeg",1024,683,true],"gts-thumbnail":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-100x100.jpeg",100,100,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-1536x1024.jpeg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-2048x1365.jpeg",2048,1365,true],"showcase_featured_posts":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-600x400.jpeg",600,400,true],"showcase_archive":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-900x500.jpeg",900,500,true],"showcase_entry_grid":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-600x800.jpeg",600,800,true],"showcase_hero":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-1600x1050.jpeg",1600,1050,true],"qubely_landscape":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-1200x750.jpeg",1200,750,true],"qubely_portrait":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-540x320.jpeg",540,320,true],"qubely_thumbnail":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-140x100.jpeg",140,100,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-1200x800.jpeg",1200,800,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-870x570.jpeg",870,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-600x900.jpeg",600,900,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Fusion-partner_blogImage-min-600x600.jpeg",600,600,true]},"qubely_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/fusionpartners.co.nz\/author\/admin\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"Advice<\/a> Employer advice<\/a> HR<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"As employers, we all know the feeling when one of your high performing team members comes to you and says they need to tell you something…. sweaty palms and lump in your throat as you prepare for the words that you will hear next… ‘I am tendering my resignation and I have accepted another role’. Whilst…","yoast_head":"\n