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Most bosses are caught off guard when facing a mass employee exodus, and the same can happen when just one valued employee resigns.
“As the boss, it’s important to watch for the symptoms of an impending departure so you can address the issues before it’s too late,” says Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of “Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job.” “Losing even one valued employee can disrupt your business, not to mention losing several team members. And if you’re running a small company or startup, these losses can destroy your business.”
Michael Kerr, an international business speaker and author of “The Humor Advantage,” agrees. “Losing employees can create a substantial impact on everything from service delivery to scheduling. It can impact the culture in a team in a negative way. And there’s a substantial cost and time commitment involved in replacing and training new employees, so the more time a manager has to prepare for the changes, the better.”
Taylor and Kerr shared 17 signs that your employees are about to quit. They say these are the ones you should watch out for so you can act before it’s too late:
SEE ALSO: 14 signs your employees secretly hate you
There’s a change in their appearance.
If they start dressing unusually sharply, it may be because they are slipping out to job interviews during or after work, says Kerr.
“Also, if someone is unhappy in their job, they may begin to dress down because they feel that no one is really paying attention anyway — or because they just don’t really care anymore,” adds Taylor.
They start taking more time off.
They begin calling in sick more often, or using up their vacation days sporadically, which may mean they are feeling very disengaged at work, possibly even to the point of using the time off to search for other employment, says Kerr. “And using up their sick days and vacation time (and even getting a lot of dental work done suddenly) might be a red flag that they are getting ready to jump ship and want to make sure they max out any benefits they feel owed to them.”
They show a drop off in any interest in work.
Have you noticed that some of your employees have stopped offering suggestions or ideas at meetings, they offer little input into new projects, or seem suddenly disinterested in any of the broader details related to work?
“This can be a sign they’ve lost their mojo and no longer really care what happens down the road because they know they won’t be there in the future,” Kerr says.
