6 signs that your best employee is going to walk out the door

The hiring process is an extremely challenging one. It involves spending endless hours screening resumes, making calls to shortlisted candidates, setting up multiple rounds of interviews and tests, negotiating offers and then making the final selections. Apart from all the effort it takes, it is also a very tiring and time-consuming affair. After you have done all of that and hired the right candidate, you train them to become a crucial part of your work culture. You do the best you can to put together a rockstar team.

But what if, after all that effort, you get to know that your best employee is about to leave? One of the most significant reasons for them to leave is a better offer with a higher salary. According to an article in Forbes, employees who stays in an organisation for more than two years gets paid 50 percent less over their lifetime. In such a case, you, as an employer, may not be able to do much. But this is a loss for the organisation as well, especially when it costs about 150 per cent of their annual salary to replace even a mid-level employee.

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Here are some signs to predict if an employee in your team is looking for a change. This will help you stay prepared and do the needful accordingly.

Change in timings

Every employee operates according to a specific time pattern. They come and leave at more or less at the same time every day. When these time patterns change noticeably for no apparent reason, this might be an indication that the employee is not very interested in their job anymore.

Change in dressing style

If you see your employee dressed in a more professional and refined manner that makes them stand out from the rest, then it is likely that they are headed for an interview. After all, it shouldn’t be that difficult for you to spot someone in their interview look.

Frequent absence from work

If you notice that your employee, who usually has a good attendance record, starts taking leaves frequently stating vague or untrustworthy excuses, it is a telling sign that they may be preparing to move into another job and are not concerned with the work and output here.

Odd lunch breaks

An employee who is dissatisfied at work will look for reasons to get out of the workplace whenever possible. Taking long breaks at unusual timings is one of the most obvious indications of this. It clearly states that the employee is slacking.

Unsatisfactory or late work

Dissatisfied employees seem disengaged with their work. They start delegating their work to their juniors. They tend to lose track of deadlines. The quality of their work also goes downhill. Unless they have a personal reason for this, these are typical signs of their disinterest in working for your organisation.

Profile updates

Cues from social media profiles are a sure-fire way of predicting that your employee is looking for a change. Updated profiles on LinkedIn and other job search websites are one such sign to watch out for. Individuals who intend to leave start paying attention to their profile ranking on LinkedIn by staying actively engaged. They also start engaging with other companies and firms.

It doesn’t take a lot to transform disengaged and disgruntled employees to happy, productive ones. However, only if you identify the signs of disinterest early on will you be able to handle the situation the right way. Try speaking to your employee and see if you can change things that are making them unhappy. Else, at the very least, look out for these signs so that you can be prepared to hire and train a new employee.