How to Manage Morale when a Well-Liked Employee Leaves

Liane Davey's primary idea in this work is to give managers insight and knowledge about the right steps to take when one of their esteemed employees leaves their company, especially when he or she has found another job. Here, he gives a procedural account of positive things employers should do while alone, while with other employees, and while alone with the partner who is leaving. The major aims of these steps are to motivate the employees who will remain and improve the company's general performance, especially management. However, many of these arguments may be strong, I disagree with the writer about the most appropriate time for a manager to engage in conversations with his employees. For example, asking about how the company's administration and performance should be improved are issues that managers should be aware of at a much earlier stage rather than when an employee is leaving. The best way to improve employee performance is by inquiring about their needs on a regular basis. Secondly, employees need constant motivation in their work, not just when their fellow is leaving them. Lastly, the response given by a worker is fully dependent on the initial relationship between the employer and the employee. Therefore, it is necessary for managers to establish good working relationships with employees even before they leave the company.

The writer starts by affirming that it is usually an emotional moment, not only for the employer but also for other workmates, when one of them leaves. He then warns managers against breaking such news to their workers soon after it happens. Employers should first take care of their emotions before trying to take care of those of their workers. Then, they should organize a good send-off for such employees, for example, by organizing a farewell party. Thirdly, the manager should hold an exit interview and ask well-structured questions to know how the company's performance can be improved. Lastly, the manager should implement the insights after resting and thinking over them.

In any enterprise, change and constant improvement are important aspects. Managers can't achieve this alone. Rather, they need to carefully monitor the workplace and ask for the opinion of the employees at regular and frequent intervals. For example, managers need to give questionnaires to their workers and conduct surveys and interviews about the workplace conditions and the opinion of the workers about how the management can improve these conditions (Steingold). However, in the article, the writer tells administrators to do this when an employee is leaving. This may end up making him/her think that the company didn't value their opinion while they were working there. If the employee leaves with this mindset, he may be a destructive source of information to others outside the company and affect its competitive advantage.

Secondly, motivating and encouraging people does not necessarily need something bad to happen before one does it. In the workplace setting, managers should make their workers grow in their fields of expertise by motivating their good work as often as possible. This will, in turn, make them love working at that place because they will feel that their efforts are appreciated, and they will advance in their career. In addition, employee motivation improves and increases their satisfaction, commitment, efficiency, and development. These, in turn, lead to meeting the company's goals, one of them being increased profits and market expansion (6Q) (Lazaroiu).

One of the ways to make sure communication between you and your employees is effective is to have a good working relationship with them. It is important for you to resolve any issues in the workplace as soon as they come up and without bias, discrimination, or self-interest. Also, you should make the best use of communication channels so that employees feel free to talk to you about any problem. However, when the workers are afraid of you, they may not disclose their feelings to you. You may, therefore, not be able to retrieve any information that will help you improve the workplace environment. Therefore, the writer of the work should have first advised employers to have a good working relationship with the workers so that exit interviews could be more productive and reliable. This will also prevent any other employees from leaving that workplace (Myers and Sadaghiani).

Florentine (2018) presents, among other issues, the rigidity of workplace policies, no room to grow, and failure to offer consistent feedback as the major cause of employees leaving one workplace for another. If the writer focuses on developing a good working relationship before an employee leaves, managers would significantly prevent similar situations from occurring (Florentine).

In conclusion, it is important for the workplace to be made a place where employees desire to be. This is achieved by having a good working relationship and ideal working conditions. Managers should stay concerned about the welfare of their workers. Therefore, most of the things that the writer recommends should be done at an earlier stage. This is important because it will prevent companies from losing workers over small issues. Managers will also not have to do much to motivate the remaining workers when one of them leaves because they are already motivated.

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