You’ve spent nearly six months trying to win over a certain candidate with your open role and after finally landing the hire, you notice a steep drop in their performance. Working from home more often. Leaving the office in the middle of the day. Being oddly more tight-lipped during team meetings. Then the kicker — they hit you with the break-up. The Dear John. The Two Weeks Notice.
An employee who quits costs the company time and money to fill in for the work left unfinished, to find and train a replacement hire, and a lost in morale from other team members who could now be considering leaving the company as well.
Keep the team together by learning how to identify and confront these issues early on, and to increase build better employee engagement and satisfaction. Here are 4 red flags an employee is about to leave your company.
Changes to their online portfolio or profile
Employees looking for another job can let other employers know they’re on the market by being diligent about giving their profile a major makeover to reflect their current position, projects, and role duties. When was the last time you remember making edits to your LinkedIn profile or online portfolio? It’s likely the last time was when you were either searching for a job or after you got hired for your most recent position. These dubbed “active candidates” want the best, most accurate representation of themselves online to communicate their qualifications for a role. Remember this signal alone isn’t a sole indicator an employee may be leaving the company, and should be considered in tandem with other gestures and changes in attitude. Read on.
Decreased engagement and interest in proposing new ideas
Employees who leave the office earlier, produce lower quality work, no longer share input or ideas for new strategies during meetings, and are easily irritable or frustrated can be signs of someone who’s making less of an effort to contribute improvements and innovations to the company, and to solve issues they may have with coworkers or managers. A team member who all of a sudden appears more passive about their duties and significantly less enthusiastic is likely doing the bare minimum to get by because of their dissatisfaction with their role.
More time spent out of the office
This one’s an obvious one. Hunting for a new role involves taking time to do interviews. When a member of your team starts filling up their calendar for coffee meetings or is frequently busy with outside networking, this could be a clear sign they’re using their lunch break (and then some) to meet with recruiters and hiring managers at another company. This action is usually paired with employees appearing slightly more dressed up than usual, putting on their best-looking interviewee garb for the big meeting.
Has had the same job title for the past 24 months
Employees who haven’t made advances or shifts in their roles for two years are 30% more likely to move on to a new job. Seeking growth in their career, employees whose job duties and responsibilities have plateaued into an uninspired, monotonous daily rhythm are reasonably in search of a new role more suited for their career goals.
Retaining top talent requires maintaining employee engagement through frequent check-ins, one-on-one meetings between hiring managers and team members, management evaluations, and even building a positive candidate experience from the moment they apply all the way through onboarding the hire. If an employee is headstrong about quitting their role and ends up following through with their decision, conducting a positive exit interview and leaving the relationship on good terms is, after all, a win-win. The company keeps a good word on the candidate, and the candidate on the company, making it more likely that they make referrals or perhaps decide to reapply when they realize the move wasn’t a good fit. (See: Boomerang candidates)
Got a story you’d like to share about an employee who recently quit your company? What red flags did you notice before they decided to leave? Share them with us in the comments! On the flip side, do you know when candidates are most likely to be open to hearing about your open opportunities? This list is just a fraction of the factors Entelo measures to tell when candidates are going to leave their job. Ask us about our More Likely to Move feature to learn more!
