Saturday, September 22, 2007

A Direct Report Wants To Resign

So what? One might wonder! But wait, What if the person is a star performer of yours? How should you react?

Well, at least I've been a witness to the 'many' nasty handling of the same. Most bosses think it is the ultimate in betrayal! They take it very personally. People go to great lengths to stop the person from moving, tries make life miserable for him/her and some times tries to talk to the party whom the person is trying to join and tries to bad mouth them.

What is the fuss all about? I know it very difficult to stomach the departure of a star performer. After all if you played any role in grooming that person. But I feel that's exactly where you can be happy sincerely.

There is one school of thought which says most of the time people leave bosses and not their companies. While agreeing with the argument on most instances, must say there are many instances where it is not the case.

What if from a company point of view you've treated them well and as a boss you groomed the individual to a greater extent. What could be the reasons for him to leave? Obviously he would have got a better break with better prospects. Then what would you do?

Well this is what I did.

When I first heard of the notice, I was completely shocked! Wasn't expecting it in my wildest of dreams. But then again it was real. Gave some time for things to sink in and then had a chat with the guy. It was evident that he had applied for this position long time ago. Perks were better and the position was better according to him. He had already made up his mind and decided to take up the position. I wished him good luck and went on to help him arrive at a plan for him to exit our company.

My rationale is simple. While his departure will create great havoc for me, this is in this person's best interest and as boss I should not be in his way. In fact I believe I should help him out to the fullest for him make swift transfer. Afterall we might be able to attract the same person at a later date who is much more enriched.

Well he will leave during the course of next two weeks. I'm happy that one of my colleagues are moving ahead in life and I wish him all the very best!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

People should read this.