What To Do When Your Key Employee Resigns

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“I recently lost a key employee. I did not expect their resignation either. They were my best sales executives, consistently meeting and exceeding their targets, and had a good relationship with all our clients. She also got along well with the team they worked with and had a good personality. 

But I have experienced this before, and it has been a learning process. From this encounter, I now know how to do this much better, and I think these are tips I can share with other leaders to go through the process better”. – John, CEO of a manufacturing company

1. Stay calm

I remember when someone resigned early in my career, and my then-boss shouting how inconveniencing it was for them.

I thought, why not stay calm and do an exit interview? If the employee is comfortable sharing this, then well and good, it can help you learn something. There are leaders I have seen offering a counteroffer after the employee is clear they could stay if offered the same package because they love the workplace. 

From my experience, offering more money will not solve anything; it may work for a short time and doesn’t address why the staff is unhappy or leaving; thus, taking the feedback and making it much better for the next employee is much better. 

Then, thank them for their impact and wish them well in their future endeavors.

2. Determine the tasks to be reassigned and what knowledge can be transferred

When my sales rep resigned, she took the next two weeks introducing her key clients to their new contact person in person and via email. 

She also handed over the projects she was responsible for by sharing key information on these accounts to allow a smooth transition.

3. Evaluate the role

As a manager, it is always essential to understand your employees’ work, what they are good at, and their weaknesses. You may not be an expert, but you know what they do and their impact. 

I knew what my sales executive was involved in and the best people to distribute her tasks to. So, when she handed in two weeks of notice and leveraged her leave days, I did not panic as I did not need to hire someone new.

I promoted a sales rep to her role since I knew they could do the work with some training and had the intern take up this person’s role instead as it needed less expertise. This allowed me to grow two people in the organization. 

I always advise if you can promote from within, do it; if it is not convenient at that time, then recruit a new staff and ensure to train them. 

4. Evaluate your succession plan

With my sales executive exit it was an eye-opener on one thing. Not to have one staff have a monopoly over clients. It was a smooth transition with my sales executive, but I have found cases where a client only knows one person from the organization and only wants to deal with that person. This can be risky when the person leaves. They can either go with that client or the business is lost.

Thus, having clients recognize more people from the company is key. The other thing is having several team members know the processes. Ensure there is knowledge transfer in the organization through coaching. This way, it is easier when the transition comes. Knowing this will help me better handle the next exit better.

Conclusion

Remember to pay all their accrued salary, document and follow the proper legal process to ensure you comply with the employment law and document. Losing a key employee can be disorienting. But these are some of the tips I have learned that can be helpful to you.” – John.