When an Employee Quits, Ask Yourself These Five Questions

When the Great Resignation comes to your organization -- and it will come, if it hasn't already -- you will inevitably be faced with the difficult situation of a key employee leaving. It's always jarring, and doubly so if you've experienced it a lot of times in short order, as many companies have, and the inevitable doubt and self-guessing creeps in.

Processing an employee leaving as quickly as possible is paramount. I don't mean doing paperwork and exit interviews, I mean emotionally processing their departure. If you think about the people who have left your employ in history, some of them take weeks -- even months -- to get out of the center of your mind.

These questions below are a rubric, of sorts, to help you "process" more rapidly. Save these and ask them to yourself, and you'll save yourself a lot of time and energy and be ready to move on to the next thing much more quickly.

Question 1: If we could change their mind, would we?

This is a really interesting thing. A large part of the time, given the opportunity to change an employee's mind about leaving, you would opt not to. You have an employee who is underperforming, who is a cancer, who is likely to be laid off, whatever, and they show up and quit. It's a blessing, right? Then why does it feel so bad?

If we wouldn't try to change their mind, then it makes it that much easier to move on, and reminding yourself of this and acknowledging it in moment one is critical. Doesn't mean you can't still be sad for their loss, but it does mean it'll be a lot easier to move forward.

And if you would change their mind, if you could, then that's fine too -- the rest of these questions will help with this also.

Question 2: Why is this an opportunity for the organization?

Reframing by forcing yourself to think about the good that will come out of this is critical. There's a ton of good side effects of someone leaving -- cost savings, opportunities for advancement for others, chance to rethink the organizational structure, less responsibility, chance for new blood. These are just a few.

Considering (and writing down! and sharing with your peers!) the opportunities that come out of the departure is a pretty clever and positive way of helping to ensure that the organization is going to survive and even thrive in the wake of this person leaving.

Question 3: Who else from the team can take their role?

Promoting from within, transferring within an organization, advancing people, horizontal movement -- these elements are absolutely revered in the workplace. Universally, these are just seen as unfettered positives.

When someone leaves, you should absolutely and immediately think about who on your team can replace them. Maybe it's someone moving up. Maybe it's someone moving over? Maybe it's a whole new structure that is going to allow a person to really flex their skills and grow. Maybe there's more money involved for a couple people? Maybe it's all of the above. I am consistently stunned at how willing employees are to take over their friend's responsibilities and roles before the person has even left the building. Folks are very pragmatic sometimes.

Question 4: How can we support the person who is leaving in the future?

Don't forget about the person who is leaving the organization. They're a future customer. They're a future employee, potentially, if they come back, which is happening more and more. They're a future lead gen source. They're a future social media follower, a future advocater, a future employee referrer.

At least they should be. The moment that someone quits, they are in essence giving you an offer. Do you want all this ongoing interaction, or not? Either way, they're out the door in a couple of weeks, but in one scenario, they leave with head held high and a real desire for continued success for your organization, and that's obviously the superior choice.

Question 5: What's next?

Finally, what's next? What's happening tomorrow? What's the future look like? Oddly, the "betrayal" of someone leaving your organization can be one of the most inspirational, energizing things that you can have. There is an inherent group dynamic that is very natural -- when someone leaves a circle, the circle tightens. When one person stops working, the rest of the team picks it up. It's animalistic, it's exciting -- it's in our DNA. Lean in!

People are leaving companies these days. It's happening. It doesn't have to be debilitating to your organization. In fact, it can be an amazing opportunity. Hopefully these questions help you act on what can be a tremendously valuable situation.

* * * * *