Signs An Employee Is About To Leave

At this time of year a lot of people are considering big changes in their lives, especially when it comes down to their career. They’ve spent the first month of 2016 deliberating their options and have decided, action should be taken.

Despite being the shortest month of the year, February always seems as though it lasts forever – particularly if you’re feeling demotivated and frustrated at work.

There’s nothing worse than feeling discouraged and unsatisfied. Sitting at your desk all day feeling undervalued and practicing the act of procrastination on another level makes your day drag beyond belief.

As a business owner, I’m always on the lookout for changing characteristics or dynamics within my team.  

Losing a member of staff is always bad news for business because it instantly effects productivity and morale within the office. It’s more than likely colleagues have built great relationships with one another and, of course, it’s always sad to see them go.

After 30 years in business, I’ve noticed there are a few tell-tale signs which I often use as ‘satisfaction indicators’. Here they are;

Productivity

Every business owner should be keeping track of their productivity, that’s a fact. More importantly, business owners should be keeping track of their employee’s productivity – you can do this by asking for weekly reports and having weekly updates with your team to discuss projects, strengths and struggles.

When someone is looking for a new job they intrinsically tend to switch off from their current role, that’s just natural.

So if you notice a certain employee’s productivity has started to dip dramatically, then something’s not right.

Negativity

When someone’s not happy in their job, you can usually see it written all over their face and body language.

This is one of the easier signs to spot – have they been more negative than usual? Are they complaining more regularly about their workload? Are they reluctant to take on any other projects? Have you noticed a lack of input, creatively?

I always find that people who leave spend their last couple of months doing ‘just enough’ to get by, often without repercussions because the boss is too busy running other facets of the business.

This hesitation to commit is a serious issue so if you see this evolving, it should be addressed as soon as possible.

They’re no longer social

Company culture is critical for a happy, satisfied workplace. If you notice an employee is avoiding social interactions and no longer wants to get involved with the community, fun aspects of the business then this could be another strong signal they’re thinking of leaving.

When someone is deliberating their future prospects, they are often on edge and reluctant to share these feelings with colleagues. Spending time with them outside of work could be too risky as they may slip up and admit something their avoiding.

Watch out for these warning signs and there will be less of a shock factor when it comes to having ‘the conversation’.

The important thing is to always ensure your staff are happy, feel motivated and valued in their role. If you don’t do this, your talent retention strategy needs a serious rethink!

Recruiters: Are your staff as happy as they could be? If you haven't invested in training, I very much doubt it...