One of your team announces that they have been offered a job elsewhere, and wants to know what you are going to do.
Of course, the subliminal message here is “I want to stay if you give me more money/promotion/a different role.”
So what should you do?
My advice would be that now is not a good time to negotiate. There is an element of you being “held over a barrel” and if other members of the team see this, you could be in for a repeat performance.
The way to resolve this is to ensure you have regular sessions with your team where you have an opportunity to praise them and pull out particular areas where they have done well. This is their chance to talk about concerns, ideas and what they want for the future too.
You should also have clear plans for the business
Identify opportunities for members of the team to develop and move up the ladder. You should include succession planning, and give staff training and development to prepare them for the next steps.
Make sure that you reward staff for a job well done
Whilst salary increases are a good way to do that, if the business cannot afford that then look at other ways to show recognition.
If all of this is handled correctly then this dilemma should never occur.
But if it does?
You need to take a judgement on how much you value that member of the team. If you have done your succession planning well you will have a replacement lined up. If not then you may have to get out your cheque book!
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