May Busch* examines the positives that can arise from the sudden resignation of a valued team member.
As the saying goes, the only way to ‘fire’ your boss is to quit. So when a team member leaves, it’s hard not to take it personally.
Will others see you as a bad leader? Or wonder what’s ‘wrong’ with your team? How will you deliver results when you’re down a key team member?
What about the hassle of replacing them when you’re already pressed for time?
While these thoughts are natural, they’ll also keep you from realising it’s normal and even healthy to have turnover in a team.
So when you have team member or two leave, by all means do a gut check on whether you or the culture are the problem they’re trying to escape.
Once you’ve made a plan to fix anything that needs fixing, recognise there’s a silver lining.
Here are three reasons it can be a good thing:
The departure of one team member creates opportunity for others.
It was a particularly tough year for the business, and I had to let one of my country managers go.
When I called in his second-in-command to say she would now have to step up and take on the role, I was shocked by what she said.
“You won’t believe this May, but I’ve been offered the country manager role at our biggest competitor and was planning to come in tomorrow morning to resign.
“I’m delighted to stay. Your timing is excellent.”
It was a wake-up call I’ll never forget. The second-in-command was a superstar we very much wanted to retain.
I learned that people need to see a path for progression and when they don’t, the talented ones will leave first.
With new people come fresh ideas.
While team stability has its benefits, in the extreme it becomes a liability.
When you have the same people on the same team for a long time, things tend to stagnate.
Staying relevant in a world that’s constantly changing and uncertain means we all must innovate.
When you have new people joining your organisation, they can provide that breath of fresh air you didn’t even know you and your team needed.
When one of Donna’s team members was tapped to run a firm-wide program, she was devastated.
How would she find a decent replacement at short notice?
It was a great opportunity for her team member but what would happen to the important projects she was leaving behind?
Fortunately, Donna was able to get an internal transfer from another section —someone who brought a different approach that improved the team’s results.
When someone is new to your team, they automatically add value because they bring a fresh perspective.
They’ll also have ways of doing things they’ve learned elsewhere that could be applied to what your team is doing.
This ability to connect the dots and offer suggestions is what leads to innovation.
Departing team members become your ambassadors elsewhere.
When you handle the leaving well, you create ambassadors for your group, section and business — and yourself.
Think of it as having someone ‘on the inside’ of another organisation who can help you build bridges.
You’ll now have someone who can vouch for you and position your efforts properly.
Your departing team members become your future partners.
For example, in the world of academic research, the norm is to train up your graduate students who then go off to different institutions where they can flourish and become future collaborators.
They are your ambassadors and even evangelists.
Unless they’ve taken trade secrets, in which case it’s a legal situation, there’s a real benefit to having a back channel into other groups or organisations.
Don’t make the mistake of trying to hold onto team members who have outgrown the role.
Ultimately, high achievers thrive on learning, growing and mastering new challenges.
So if you can’t offer them an experience that stretches them or a clear path forward, it’s best to let them find it elsewhere.
*May Busch works with smart entrepreneurs and top managements to build their businesses. She can be contacted at [email protected].
This article first appeared at maybusch.com.
