Can you spot the signs before someone quits and how do you retain them before they think of leaving?

You probably won't find out someone is leaving until they hand in their notice.

By then, in most cases, the decision was made weeks ago.

Summer tends to be when this plays out. People go on holiday, get some headspace, start browsing jobs on their phones, and come back with a plan.

If you haven't spotted the signs early enough, you're already behind.

This quick guide covers three things:

• What to look for before someone gets to that point

• How to mitigate unwanted leavers through undertaking a talent review and succession planning

• How to handle it properly when they do tell you that they want to leave.

How to spot the signs that someone might leave

Most people don't go from happy to resigned overnight.

Here are some things we often see in the weeks or months before a resignation:

• Withdrawal from team conversations or activities they used to engage in

• Doing the minimum

• A pattern of short-notice sick days or increased absence

• Visibly switched off in one-to-ones or team meetings

• Quietly documenting their work or tidying up processes that nobody asked them to tidy

• A change in how they talk about the future.

None of these individually will always result in a resignation. But if you're seeing a few of them at once in the same person, it's worth a conversation.

What you can do before it reaches a resignation

Don't forget the importance of having regular one-to-ones that go beyond task updates; they are the most useful thing you can put in place. Ask directly whether someone is happy. Ask if there's anything you should be talking about. Here is a useful blog about getting back to basics. https://www.progressivehrs.co.uk/post/getting-back-to-basics-rediscovering-the-human-side-of-hr-what-do-you-think.

When someone tells you something, act on it. Asking and then doing nothing is worse than not asking at all and people remember.

It's also worth reviewing pay, development and progression before someone else makes them an offer.

Counteroffers after the fact rarely work. Most people have already decided by the time they sit down to tell you.

Mitigating Retention Risks & How Succession Planning Can Help

Effectively mitigating retention risks requires a holistic approach. One effective strategy is to integrate succession planning with talent reviews (this is a discussion about your talent).

Talent reviews involve a comprehensive evaluation of your organisation's people. By conducting these assessments in tandem, you gain a deeper understanding of your workforce's strengths and weaknesses, enabling you to identify and nurture high-potential individuals while proactively addressing any retention concerns. Please see my blog on how to undertake a talent review here and how to undertake succession planning. https://www.progressivehrs.co.uk/post/succession-planning-how-to-retain-your-employees-and-plan-for-unexpected-departures.

When someone hands in their notice

Even with good habits in place, people will still leave.

How you handle the first conversation matters more than most employers realise.

Don't react emotionally and don't take it personally. Thank them for telling you. If there's a genuine possibility they'd stay, ask whether anything would change their mind.

If the decision is final, move straight to practical next steps.

Protecting the business during the notice period

Get the notice period and final working date confirmed in writing as soon as possible.

Start planning the handover straight away. Work out what knowledge lives only in that person's head, who needs to receive it and by when.

If garden leave or early release is appropriate for your business, make that call sooner rather than later.

If there are restrictive covenants in their contract, review them now.

Keeping the rest of the team steady

Your remaining employees will notice someone is leaving. If you don't get ahead of the communication, rumours will.

Tell the team promptly, keep the tone positive and have a plan for how the workload will be covered.

People don't expect you to have everything sorted immediately, but they do need to see you're across it.

Make the exit conversation useful

An exit conversation doesn't need to be a formal interview. A genuine, short chat can give you useful information you won't get any other way.

What you're really listening for is patterns.

If this is the second or third person to leave the same team or if people are citing similar reasons, that's worth taking seriously.

It's data, even if it doesn't feel like it.

Where we can help

We work with businesses to put the right structures in place before a resignation lands on your desk.

That includes one-to-one frameworks, retention, succession planning, talent reviews, conversations and clear offboarding processes so that when someone does leave, the business stays stable and the rest of the team stays settled.

If you need HR support on this topic, please reach out to Progressive HR Solutions via email at info@progressivehrs.co.uk .