You might be confident that your employees will stick around for the long run but realistically you might just want to hear our take on the top 5 ways to stop a valued employee from quitting when you’re not ready to let them go. For one reason or another, an employee might have to make the difficult decision to move out of the organization, despite them being critical players within your workforce. In some situations, it might be inevitable and you will have to accept the employees’ decision to leave. In other cases where the employee is moving on to another organization or leaving due to issues within your company, you might be successful in convincing an employee to stay instead.
There are many ways to keep employees from leaving but it all boils down to the employees’ reasons for leaving and how open you are to making adjustments in order to convince them to stay.
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Top 5 Ways to Stop a Valued Employee from Quitting
In most situations, employers tend to take their frustration out on an employee who chooses to leave a company rather than understand that the employee has to put themselves first. Especially when a core team member decides to move to another company, they are often treated as traitors for making the move even if they are verbally congratulated for seizing the opportunity. Regardless of how the company feels about their employees quitting, they need to adopt a general policy of open-minded communication so employees are more forthcoming about the details rather than telling their employer after all the details of the new employment have already been confirmed.
This leaves some room for devising ways to keep the employees from leaving, providing them with a better opportunity within the organization instead. It also helps to understand why you’re convincing an employee to stay and if you can truly provide them with a better offer within the organization. If you turn to false promises to buy their loyalty, it is quite likely that they will find another opportunity in the next two few months and leave for certain this time. They will also ensure the other employees know just how toxic the workplace is so none of them fall for such a strategy again. Transparency is critical when it comes to broaching the top 5 ways of stopping a valued employee from quitting.
1. Open the Doors for a Conversation
The first step in how to retain an employee who wants to leave is to ask them why they are leaving in the first place. The conversation should not take place out of anger or irritation but out of genuine interest in understanding why the employee is choosing to move on. In some cases, there might be a pressing health condition, family illness, or a need for a break that is unavoidable. Under such circumstances, you may want to create an opportunity for the employee to return to work once they have addressed the issue sufficiently. This way, the departure is only temporary and you have a knowledgeable employee returning to your organization.
In other cases, the employee may be moving on to a different company with a different career path entirely, which might require a more nuanced approach. There is also the possibility that an employee might be leaving due to internal problems at the company such as the lack of clear career progression, poor management, stressful work culture, lack of accountability or other issues that they no longer wish to deal with. Convincing an employee to stay may even require some structural changes within the organization to be made, not just for this employee but to ensure others don’t leave as well. None of this is possible unless you communicate.
2. Provide a Counteroffer: Ask Them How to Retain an Employee Who Wants to Leave
In the list of the top 5 ways to stop a valued employee from quitting, negotiating a better salary or benefits is inevitably one of the most effective solutions. Employees moving to a different organization can likely be convinced to stay if you can provide them with a better offer than a competitor. The simplest offer is monetary—a higher salary may be the main benefit they’re receiving from your competitor, so if your budget allows for it, offer them a higher consolidated salary. If you don’t think you can match their offer via monetary compensation, you can also consider other fringe benefits that might be of a higher priority to them.
Health and wellness benefits, child care assistance, better retirement plans, travel allowances, flexible schedules, access to education programs, company-centric benefits, etc. can all be convincing enough to get an employee to stay at your organization. Through careful negotiations, be creative about the benefits you can offer to the employee and consider what’s useful to them in particular to improve their quality of life. How to retain an employee who wants to leave? Give them a genuine reason to stay.
3. Promptly Address Concerns to Show the Company’s Potential For Change
If an employee is leaving the organization due to their dissatisfaction with how things are done at the company, do not waste time being offended. Either there is a genuine mismatch between the employee’s expectations and the work culture you’re trying to create, or there are serious issues with how work is done at your company that need to change. Either way, instead of taking the criticism personally, review the workplace and establish whether the aspect needs to change. If you find that there is a serious issue that could do with some improvements, start crafting a plan of action so your employee knows you are serious about improving the work culture.
A genuine effort towards improvement will be a point in your favor in convincing an employee to stay. It might just be what the employee needs to see the future potential of your organization and continue with the company. If an employee talks about a toxic manager, conduct your own internal investigations into the matter. If they report frustration with the communication channels at work, it may not be possible to set up an entirely new system immediately, but it should be possible to draft a plan and make small changes for the short term. It is important to note that you follow it up with continued effort rather than let the efforts fizzle out after the initial burst of activity.
4. Career Planning and Internal Mobility Are Essential For Convincing an Employee to Stay
In some cases, the employee may not be looking for a monetary perk but might need more direction in their career or access to greater opportunities. Next in our list of the top 5 ways to stop a valued employee from quitting is the focus on a career. Most employees spend a few years at an organization, find their career reaching a plateau, and then look for another job with a more senior role. If they are reassured about the career projections within their organization, they will have something to work towards internally instead of leaving.
You might find it very beneficial to work with the employee to chart out what kind of opportunities they could see during their next five years at the organization. From promotions to advanced projects, employees will be able to understand their own growth this way, instead of trying to start from scratch at a new company. In addition to internal mobility, discuss the kind of training, mentorship opportunities, networking benefits, and other formats of growth that you could offer to the employee. At the end of the day, the employee will have to prioritize their development first and if the company contributes to it willingly, employees will find themselves more reluctant to leave.
5. Negotiate a Middle Ground or Temporary Work Arrangement To Stop A Valued Employee From Quitting Immediately
Despite all your efforts, sometimes an employee might just have to leave for their own reasons. You might be reluctant to let them go because you’re in the middle of a project where they are a key player or because they have extensive insights on the subject. In that case, you could focus your energy on negotiating some form of a temporary work arrangement where you provide them with the appropriate compensation to stay on until the end of the project and then move on. You could also ask the employee to stay on as an advisor for a few more weeks and set up a unique arrangement that accommodates them. It all depends on how much you value the employee and their expertise.
In some cases, an employee might be willing to continue working for you if you can provide them with a work-from-home opportunity or allow them to relocate to another branch of your organization. Similarly, a different role at your organization might be appealing to them when they are considering a different career path. As long as you are willing to meet an employee halfway, you should have no trouble learning how to retain an employee whose circumstances allow them to stay.
While there aren’t any perfectly foolproof ways to keep your employee retention at 100 percent, these are 5 ways to stop a valued employee from quitting when faced with a resignation. All in all, convincing an employee to stay requires honest conversation, sincere negotiation, and sufficient flexibility that allows room to arrive at a plan that works for you and your trusted employee.