Getting dumped by an employee sucks.
When an employee you like and see great promise in leaves you, it stings. When they leave you to make a career decision that is not understandable (in a worst case scenario questionable)… oh dear god, it just makes you want to cry. Watching this train wreck can be painful. And usually it's not even a slow death. It's a fast, unexpected one. It can render you speechless. It really does make you question every single reason why you manage, why you even give a crap about teams, or employees, your influence or your very ability to do your job. Self-doubt creeps in.
Self-doubt at work really feels the same as self-doubt in any relationship. It can eat you up. And, like jealousy, it doesn't do anyone any good. So here are a few tips to help keep your heart from being broken by your employees when they quit you.
a) Don't be a manager. Really. Don't be in this line of work. It’s not for everyone. If you want to be a manager, leader, etc….then you have to know there will be times your heart will get a little broken.
b) Don't presume you know what is best for your adult employees. Quit doing it. You don't. I've had a few bosses in my life that thought they had me pegged. They actually discouraged me from trying new career paths. They were selfish and self-serving. I remember when I quit one of my jobs to go into HR, my boss looked incredulously at me and went, “Do you think you are up for that?” Yes. I was.
c) Do not pl
ay the role of the mama or papa bear
d) Cross-train your team members. If you run an HR house, likely you have a team of generalists. This set up lends itself to cross training. Just be sure everyone knows how to do little of everything. This softens the blow if one of your employees makes a quick exit.
e) Change your focus. Focus on providing your employees with their best experience while they work for you. Notice I said their best experience, not YOUR best experience. This means provide your employee learning ops, manage to their strengths, open new doors for them and remove obstacles. Sometimes that will result in an employees outgrowing their current role, which isn't a bad thing from this mindset.
f) Have solid and deep relationships with people outside of work. Those who have deep relationships outside of work typically are able to roll with the punches inside of work much better.
Have you been dumped by an employee? Hit me in the comments…
