The technology space is expanding by the day, both within and beyond Africa. With this expansion, newer opportunities are emerging and most entrepreneurs admit that the struggle is no longer that of getting good hands, but keeping them on the team long enough without being poached. There is a high demand for tech professionals who know what they are doing, and if you have any on your team, you want to keep them with you.
However, it is unavoidable that you will have to face the reality of losing a staff every now and then, even your exceptionally good staff. Some of them leave without notice of resignation, while others have the courtesy of giving you a 2-week or 1-month notice of their exit.
In the light of trying to retain your good hands; what should you do when you receive a notice of resignation from any staff? Different founders, business owners, and managers react differently in such situations. There is no hard and fast rule to this, but I will share my thoughts on some of these actions and reactions.
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Presenting a counteroffer?
In cases where talent is leaving the team for a better offer, some managers try to lure them back in with a counter-offer that tries to match their new offer. As I said, this is neither right nor wrong, but here is what statistics show.
Even when presented with an alluring counter-offer, a significant percentage of these employees still leave. Why? Because remuneration is NOT among the top three reasons employees want to leave their jobs. Toxic work environment, lack of appreciation and recognition, need for growth are some factors that rank higher than poor pay, when you consider reasons people leave their jobs.
As an addition, I think this move sends a wrong message to the other staff (and they will get to find out whether you tell them or not). If you offer a staff higher pay just because he is about to leave your team, you may be communicating to the others that they also need to make similar moves before they can get a raise or better work conditions. A review is something that should be done occasionally and across the board, not when you are about to lose staff.
Separate them from the rest of the team?
Some staffs turn in their notice of resignation and suddenly observe that they are now being treated as outsiders. There are accounts of some staff who say they were being excluded from team meetings and strategic projects just because they turned in their notice of resignation. I am not sure the reasoning behind this move, but the effects can be far-reaching. You may be communicating to your staff that the day they choose to leave the team (for career advancement or for other reasons), they become anti-team. It is like telling your child that the day he chooses to move out of your house, he ceases to be your child. This does not help for team bonding, even among the remaining staff.
A certain bank in Nigeria (now acquired by another) created such a bond among its staff, encouraging their career goals and academic pursuits, that the ex-staffs formed a sort of Alumni body after leaving the bank. When their founder celebrated his 60th birthday, the alumni body in New York threw him a second birthday party, after the one he had in Nigeria. This can only be a result of strong team bonding. The management must have communicated to them that even after leaving the bank, they remained a part of the team.
Trying to talk them out of it
This can be a way to show team members that they are appreciated and their presence on the team has not been taken for granted. However, I do not think this should be over-flogged. It is fine to ask them if they would have stayed back if a couple of things were changed, but you need not push them to change their minds.
Asking for an honest review/feedback
There is no data telling exactly how many businesses adopt this approach, but I think this is something every manager and business owner should adopt (in addition to whatever else they choose). There are feedbacks that some staff would only give when they know that they are leaving the company, and you can really use the honest feedback.
Some questions to ask could be; “why are you leaving us?”, “what do you like most about our operations and management style?”, “Is there something you think we could be doing better?”, “do you think this company supports your individual career growth?”, etc. It is the feedback from questions like this that you can use to make the work environment better for those left behind.