Why Supporting Your Employees Choice to Leave Actually Helps Your Business
The greatest investment a business can make is in its employees; they are the backbone of the business and their efforts are what keeps the wheels turning. They know the business inside and out and can offer depth into what works and what doesn’t leading to new ideas and implementations that will make the business more successful overall.
Hiring a good team can be difficult, especially right now during the unstable employment crisis, and when you do get certain rockstar employees it can be tough to see them leave. However, this is exactly what you want because their decision to leave provides value to your company. Let us explain:
When an employee leaves an organization it’s typically for one of 4 reasons.
- They feel undervalued
- They lack direction and/or are frustrated
- The organization is toxic
- They have hit the promotion ceiling
Most of your employees will have entered the workforce under the age of 30, or perhaps starting their first job with you. That means they realistically have at least 30-35 years before they retire, but not all of those years may be spent with you at your company. When you give your employees the resources and support they need to flex their creativity, you are creating a new generation of strong leaders all while being a strong leader yourself. With this mindset it is obviously to the employer’s benefit if the employee remains within the organization, but if the employee chooses to leave there is also tremendous value if they are provided the opportunity to return.
In a small business, it’s common for owners to be fearful of losing a key person, and rightfully so as they have a wealth of knowledge that can be hard to replace. However, their absence provides an opportunity for another team member to step up or to welcome a new person to the organization which will bring a new set of ideas to the table. This also gives the small business owner or department the ability to reorganize and reevaluate strengths and weaknesses within the organization.
Of course, it is ideal to keep your star employees, but ultimately, they need to follow their dreams – great leaders nurture and encourage, don’t be the reason someone gets held back from their goals and dreams! Who knows, perhaps they will change their course of professional direction through your guidance and support, or even come back to your organization after gaining new skills and ideas elsewhere.
“Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” -Richard Branson