Keyword: employee turnover

They have decided to leave, now you have to decide how long to keep them around.  In general, there are two schools of thought:

• Get them out the door as fast as you can.
• Get as much work out of them as you can.

There are a lot of variations in between, and a lot of contingent factors to consider, of course.  But in general, all the choices boil down to something approaching these.

I’ll cut to the chase scene and tell you, I’m firmly in the “show them the door” camp, unless there are some extenuating circumstances.  The key reason is that the person has already committed to the new job, they are mentally there already.  Also, they are a short-timer, and even the most dedicated and faithful of employees gets “short-timer syndrome”.  They will introduce, even unintentionally, an “I’m outta here” mood with it’s lax attention to detail, a poor attitude toward their peers, and worst of all, make others think about leaving.  So, most of the time, I’m in favor of “thanks for playing our game” and a quick exit…  measured in hours.

The only real exception is when the person holds essential responsibilities that simply no one else knows enough to handle, and you think the extra time will help train a replacement.  In this case, where the outgoing person essentially has your organization hostage, a little extra time is worth the downside.  But I rarely see value in more than the customary two weeks, and always recommend that you keep your options open and monitor the situation on a daily basis.  If the mood is going south, cut the person loose, immediately.

I talk about replacement training elsewhere, but it’s important to be realistic, if not pessimistic about it.  In my experience, short-timer syndrome takes over and completely engulfs any potential knowledge transfer you may gain from the departing employee.  They usually are leaving their job because they don’t like it, or see it as a dead end, and there is zero chance they won’t (even unintentionally) pass this attitude on to their replacement.

And as a side benefit, I usually find that a complete re-think of the job, with the new employee revitalizing the position, can work wonders for both the effectiveness of a position, and the morale of the incoming replacement.  So don’t rely on the outgoing person for knowledge transfer.  Assign a new employee, give them the essentials, and tell them you are looking for their input on how the job would best work.

So, unless you have done a very poor job in providing backup on an ongoing basis, or you have allowed an employee to develop unique and secret knowledge about their work (both mortal sins — on your part), prompt exits are the best.  Simply thank people for their work, and offer to help them clean out their desk.  Seriously.

Same day exits are the best.  This leaves the least amount of time for morale damage to the rest of the team, for questions from all concerned (and not concerned) about why, where, how much, etc., and perhaps often overlooked in this information age, the least amount of time for them to steal or damage essential information.  Change their password immediately, get them out the door with the least amount of stuff possible, and offer to settle up on all other issues (pay, COBRA, personal items left in the office, business items still at home, etc.) later.

And, for your amusement, it usually catches people off guard and sends a wonderfully strong signal to the rest of the organization: Thinking about leaving?  Fine, but don’t expect me to beg you to stay.  That’s never a bad signal to send.

It’s a common management situation: someone walks into your office, and says “I think I’m leaving.”  The next move is yours, and it stumps a lot of managers.  Should you:

• Try to talk them out of leaving
• Beg and plead for them to stay
• Wish them the best of luck in their new job
• Advise them to be careful of the door on their way out

Of course, your answer is highly dependent on the situation, the person, and the timing.  If this is a crucial position, and you’re within weeks of a crucial deadline, you will respond differently than if it is a loser who you’ve been trying to figure out how to handle for months.  So I can’t give a single, pat answer for every situation.  But I can tell you how to approach the decision.

Are they special?

First, you need to ask yourself honestly how important this person is to your organization.  And here, it is important to differentiate the person from the position.  Right now, it’s all about the person. (We’ll assume for the moment that this is a position the organization really needs.)

If this individual is quite special, someone you can see in almost any position in your organization, then they are worth saving.  If they are good, even if they have years of experience, but not truly special, you should probably just let them go.

This is the crucial choice, the one that deserves the most attention.  And you need to be very self-critical on this.  Are they honestly unique?  Or can you imagine finding someone as good within weeks?  This is the crux of the decision, but if you are honest with yourself, it’s not that hard to make.

Why are they leaving?

Assuming they are worth saving, you should place yourself in the other person’s head, for just a minute.  Ask yourself how hard this decision was to make, and how difficult you think it was for them to tell you.  If you think this was a very big decision for them, that they anguished over it for weeks, and they have been dreading coming to tell you, you need to take that into account.  In such a situation, trying to talk them out of it will only make them feel worse, solidify their decision, and make you look desperate.

If, on the other hand, you think they just got an offer and decided quickly to take a shot at it, perhaps you do have a chance to convince them otherwise.  How you approach this conversation is critical.  If you are flippant or ridicule the other opportunity, you are essentially telling them how stupid they are for considering it.  Not a good approach.

If you are calm, reasoned, and considerate, you may have a chance to convince them to stay.  You need to move into “trusted advisor” mode, and try to help them evaluate the choice.  This is your only chance to change their mind.  If you become someone they can trust, and rely on to be objective, maybe they will want to stay.  It’s a slim chance, but well worth a try.  And if it fails, you still have credibility — and perhaps they will return when the grass isn’t that much greener over there.

Is it a ploy?

Another possibility is that they are threatening to leave simply to gain concessions from you (more compensation, for example).  If this is the case, you need to call their bluff.  Quickly wish them well, and offer to help clean out their desk.  If it is a ploy, it speaks volume to their character, their dedication, and their relationship with your organization.  You don’t want/need them.

If they are willing to leave on those terms, what will happen when the going really gets tough?  And if you cave, what’s next?  Will you offer them your job to stay?  No, just let them go, and send a clear message to all in the organization that this behavior is not condoned.

Can you afford it?

Finally, if you find yourself needing to make some kind of committments to keep them (more money, fewer hours, new manager, etc.) you need to do so very carefully.

First, be sure you can actually deliver.  Nothing could be worse that for you to convince someone to turn down another offer, and then not follow through on your part.  They will never trust you again.

Second, be sure it is something you are willing to do for similarly placed individuals.  Word will get out, and you may well end up with a parade in your office looking for the same concession.  This is another reason to be sure the person is truly special before you make the decision to convince them to stay.  That way, you can differentiate when the others come marching in.

Summary

In summary, the important decision is the uniqueness of the individual.  If they are truly special and unique, try to save them.  Otherwise, simply let them go.  And if you want to save them, it’s vital you understand their motives, so you can best change their mind.  In general terms, I’m a “thanks for playing our game” kind of manager.  Special people just don’t come around that often.

Boyd Coddington

It’s my guilty pleasure that some reality TV shows draw me like a moth to a flame.  One of my favorites is Discovery Channel’s “American Hot Rod”.  The show ostensibly chronicles Boyd Coddington and his team while they build world-class custom cars.  For anyone who knows much about cars (and I speak as a reformed addict), Boyd’s name is well known.  He was one of the originators of the over-the-top custom car back in the late seventies, and is an icon in the field.  But you don’t have to even care about cars to gain huge insights into team building and management from this show.

I’m sure the creators of the show (including the reknowned Thom Beers who discovered Jesse James) went into it expecting simply a spin off from the world of custom motorcycles that made them, Jesse, Monster Garage, and other shows like it huge hits.  These shows are among the most profitable for DSC.

But they got much more than they bargained for with American Hot Rod.  Boyd and crew are perhaps the most disfunctional team since the Bundys of “Married with Children”.  The show features such teambuilding highlights as:

• A CEO (Boyd) who is gifted, revered, an industry icon, and a teddy bear, but who also micro-manages, sets ridiculous schedules with no input from below, ignores criticism, changes his mind depending on who he last spoke to, won’t admit when he’s wrong, and thinks everyone with a differing opinion “has a problem”.
• A line manager (Duane) who is a worse micro-manager, has little patience for the challenge of managing his team, treats everyone like dirt, curses like a sailor, blames everyone but himself for the problems, and lets Boyd walk all over him.
• Projects that routinely are underscheduled by half, causing the team to have to work 18 hour days seven days a week on a routine basis.
• Line employee turnover that is terrible, with the team going from 20 to 5 in the most recent episodes — with people leaving for lousy reasons, and leaving to no other job (a clear sign of major cultural issues).
• A business model that clearly is bankrupt — the only new customers are Boyd’s old friends, and the shop is always half-full.

I watch on a weekly basis as these factors collide in fantastic displays.  Of course, they always finish the car, and of course the team always is smiling on conclusion, but the show couldn’t be a better teambuilding course without resorting to PowerPoint slides.  I find myself pausing the Tivo about every five minutes: “hmmm, let’s see, can I think of five better ways to have handled that?”  Usually the answer is “yes.”

I watched an episode from a week or two ago last night, and I caught myself screaming at the TV.  The team lost two members, one who actually called Boyd and Duane on their ridiculous behavior, and another long-time, well-respected member left “to freelance”.  Boyd’s response to the former was “he really must have some problems” and to the latter it was “well, he had made up his mind”.  And to top it off, Boyd had to shut down his wheel business due to poor sales.  I was in pain, as I always am when I watch teams disintegrate due to lousy managment.  I wanted to call him up and offer my services for free…  but I guess I’ll wait for him to find me.

Anyway, if you are looking for a guilty pleasure, and some killer lessons on how NOT to run a team, catch Discovery Channel’s “American Hot Rod”.