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ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION JULY 7, 2021 Page 4 What to Do When You Lose Your Best Employee…continued from page 2 3. The employee leaves as a "brand ambassador." Don't burn any bridges as the old saying goes. To the extent possible, make sure you have a way to connect former employees back to the organization where they can offer business and employee referrals and maintain a positive impression of your brand. Maybe you have a sort of informal "alumni network" of former employees who still stop in at the company picnic or drop by at Christmas time. Do whatever works for you, knowing that it's good to maintain these positive relationships because they help your company thrive. After the Company "Star" Exits Your Stage For reasons already discussed, it is never a day at the beach to lose a key team member; we get that. But do make lemonade out of the lemons if you can. Gallup suggests the following ideas to help you make the most of a departure. 1. Rediscover your team's hidden strengths. You may think your rock star is leaving a hole that can't be filled. Who knows; you may be right. On the other hand, sometimes there are undeveloped interests and talents in people you already employ. Maybe these things never came out before because your star's shadow loomed so large. Maybe the remaining team members weren't ready or needed encouragement. At this point, none of that matters. Now is the time to discover what others can do, are interested in learning, and look at ways to grow the skills of the staff that remains. 2. Identify career development paths that may have opened up. In another job I once lost a longtime key employee who had many relationships with our organizational stakeholders. I fully expected it would take a couple of years to recover from his departure. Then a woman in mid-career, working in an entirely different part of the organization told me, "I'd love to learn [the departing employee]'s job." I was bowled over. I'd never thought of her in that role, and she'd never mentioned an interest in it. Yet she had the personality for the job and had built many good connections elsewhere in the organization. Though she didn't have the departing employee's relationships, it was clear she had the aptitude to build them. So we invested in training the woman who raised her hand. Soon she was a rock star in her own right—moving up to a role she'd always thought would be fun but imagined would not be available for years. It was a win-win. So look at your half-full glass. Losing a star performer may open doors to better engaging and retaining others. 3. See this as an opportunity for skills development and growth. Every person has an inner drive to grow and develop. Instead of viewing the shifting workload as a burden on remaining employees, reframe the situation as an opportunity to learn new things and increase their contributions. Maybe you don't have anyone on the current team who can be promoted or groomed for your departing star's role. Well, don't despair. If you can't go whole hog, grab as many ham sandwiches as you can. You may find that by shifting parts of your rock star's workload, you can grow Continued on page 5