74% of employees have seen a colleague leave their team in the last 12 months
In the first half of 2022, 523,000 French people left their jobs, according to Dares. Three-quarters of employees have been confronted with the sudden departure (in 18% of cases) or voluntary departure (in 65% of cases) of a member of their team, estimates a recent study* “Management of departures” carried out on a sample 1,000 employees, by an onboarding specialist (HeyTeam) and an AdTech specializing in automated marketing studies (Poll&Roll),
The first observation of the study is that these departures visibly leave traces:
- 43% of employees surveyed say that these departures have altered their relationship with the company
- 33% say it has affected their personal life as well as their mental health (31%)
- 56% saw their workload increase following this departure.
To say that those who remain are the big losers of these starting waves seems, in view of these results, an understatement.
The other lesson is that the malaise of the troops still in post is explained by the distortion between their perception of the situation and the satisfaction of the managers: barely a little more than half of the employees only consider that their box has managed these departures well, while 81% of managers say they are sufficiently trained to support their team.
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3 tips to make life easier for those left behind (and reassure them)
What to do to improve the atmosphere and take into account the difficulties of those who remain faithful in the company struggling with waves of resignation:
✔️ Reinforce communication around these departures
Nothing worse than discovering one fine morning that your office colleague is no longer there. And that he left through the back door, without honors, when he had obviously not been undeserved for many years.
“Companies would benefit from being more transparent about the reasons for leaving. Unless there is gross or serious misconduct, a manager must value the person’s contribution to the company. Thus, those who leave will be more inclined to recommend this box. And for those left behind, it sends a message of recognition and consideration.”
Nathaniel Philippe, CEO of HeyTeam.
Organizing a pot and/or a kitty can, for example, help to reassure employees. Without forgetting the speech which goes well.
✔️Plan the transmission of skills
It’s not cool to take up a position without a history… Before each departure, the company has an interest in asking to document a “skills transfer” booklet in which the departing person specifies the different processes of his job, a link to an up-to-date contact file , to the minutes of the last important meetings, an update on the achievement of its objectives (and therefore those still to be achieved). In short, a written record that will serve as a reference for the “buyers”. A virtuous reflex adopted by “learning companies” which promote the acquisition of new knowledge but are also concerned with transmitting those which already exist internally.
✔️Reorganize the workload without waiting
When an employee leaves suddenly, their workload is often distributed among those who remain while waiting to find a replacement or another organization. Letting things happen naturally and/or not talking about them is very anxiety-provoking. Because the “remaining” will anticipate, perhaps wrongly moreover, an overload of work. “On the contrary, they must be officially associated with the new distribution of missions and files,” adds Nathaniel Philippe. Specify whether this work overload is temporary or not, even remunerated or not. And if a replacement is planned and when. This visibility will thus allow everyone to apprehend things more calmly. And to position himself openly if one of the positions left vacant interests him.
*Methodology of the HeyTeam “Management of departures” study conducted by Poll&Roll: 1,000 French M/F respondents surveyed between October 19 and 26, aged 18 to 65 and from ETIs, SMEs and large companies.
