Ask an HR Pro: How Can I Tell if an Employee Is Going to Quit?

Employee retention is one of the most vital aspects of running a company. Of course, you can’t retain everyone but keeping your most valuable workers on board for as long as possible is important. When you consider everything that is involved in bringing on a new employee, including recruiting, hiring, and training, turnover can be costly.

Ideally, you’d be able to recognize the signs an employee is going to quit and address their concerns before they leave. But if you don’t know how to tell if an employee is going to quit, it’s almost impossible to be proactive. In this month’s Ask an HR Pro, Lisa Shuster, iHire Chief People Officer, breaks down what behavior and attitudes you should look out for that might indicate an employee is quitting.

Signs an Employee Is Going to Quit

“It’s inevitable that over time, employees may wish to leave for new opportunities,” Shuster explained upfront. “However, generally, these big career decisions aren’t made overnight – there is a buildup to leaving a job, with some common signs you can see beforehand. Usually, you’ll see a decrease in productivity and engagement, worsening levels of responsiveness, a negative attitude around the office, and irregular use of PTO.”

Let’s take a more in-depth look at these signs to learn how to tell if an employee is going to quit and what you can do to mitigate those chances.

Decrease in Productivity and Engagement

A drop off in work productivity and engagement can signify that an employee is mulling over a job change, but don’t jump to conclusions too quickly. A personal situation or crisis could also be to blame, so check in with your employee to determine what they’re thinking. If you notice low productivity over a sustained period, that’s a more concrete sign of an employee leaving.

“It’s likely that the employee’s expectations are no longer being met at your company and that they may be on the hunt for a new position,” Shuster said. “In this situation, you may wish to present the employee with new projects or challenges to see if the employee can be re-engaged.”

Worsening Level of Responsiveness

An employee who is strongly considering leaving your company may become distant or act out of character. For example, they may isolate themselves from the team by being uncommunicative, not providing input, taking a long time to respond to emails and messages, skipping after-hours team outings, and keeping in-person conversations shorter than usual.

“Of course, there are many reasons why a person may clam up,” Shuster cautioned. “But if you notice an employee checking out over an extended period, reach out and show them you care about their well-being and attempt to understand why there is a change in behavior.”

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A Negative Attitude Around the Office

If a normally happy employee begins to express unhappiness, regularly complains about assignments, clashes with their colleagues, and exhibits a generally negative or apathetic demeanor, there’s a good chance they’ll start looking for supposed greener pastures. This behavior can become infectious, so you’ll want to patch things up before it spreads into an office-wide issue.

“It’s easy to resort to authoritative confrontation to combat someone’s negative behavior, but that will likely only aggravate the person more,” Shuster warned. “Meet with the employee to discuss their specific concerns about assignments, the office, and colleagues and attempt to address their issues.”

Irregular Use of Time Off

An employee looking to leave your company may come in late or leave early more often than usual, as well as use an irregular amount of time off. Your employee may be interviewing or perhaps already made the decision and are looking to burn their PTO or risk losing it in some cases. While an employee’s mind may be made up already, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have a candid discussion and try and convince them to stay.

What to Do if You Think an Employee Is Leaving

While none of these behaviors is a definite sign of an employee quitting, if you spot any of them your first step is to attempt to engage the employee before their mind is made up. Sometimes one conversation is all you need to understand what is happening and perhaps turn things around. However, if that’s not possible, don’t drag things out.

“If you discover that an employee quitting is inevitable, and their deteriorating work and behavior is becoming a burden to you and the rest of your team, the best option may be to talk about it and mutually agree to part ways instead of them lagging behind for months and disrupting the office,” Shuster concluded.

For more tips on retaining your best employees, check out our Employer Resource Center.