What to do when a key employee resigns

At one time Cypress Semiconductors had in place one of the best ever set of processes for, ‘keeping their best people’ in the case of an unexpected resignation (Rodgers, 1990). They claimed a batting average of “0.5” in being able to turn the situation around. Their approach comprised a number of elements including:

(1) Preventing resignations from happening in the first place, by treating people fairly, rewarding performance, and creating opportunities to do important work.
(2) Defending the company against headhunters (e.g. making the Cypress internal telephone directory a proprietary document not to be shared with outsiders)
(3) A highly structured process comprising nine key steps, each of which was set out in an internal CEO memorandum. This process was designed to persuade any resigning employees to reconsider their decision (e.g. one of the steps was for senior management to get personally involved as early as possible).

Our own consulting has uncovered other aspects which aid retention. One simple, obvious, yet under-used technique is to keep in periodic contact with any top-notch employees who do resign. Often these staff leave assuming they will find greener grass elsewhere. It frequently proves not to be the case. Your continuing interest in them and their careers is flattering and they can often be persuaded back. They return to you as more experienced and perhaps even more loyal.

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