When good people move on
 A former member of my team has left today. She got herself a better job, one that will challenge her, give her more opportunities and - hopefully - help her grow as a person. When I saw the message come in off Facebook I gave a little "whoop" of joy.
At which point my daughter, sat opposite me playing some online game or other, asked, "why are you glad to see her go?"
An interesting question. True, I no longer manage that team so I don't have a vested interest. Yet my attitude has always been that when a member of my team is clearly capable of more than I can challenge them with then the right thing to do is support their onward move. It can seem counter-intuitive - after all, surely I should be keeping all the talent I can?
Perhaps, but the benefits of showing staff I care about their careers has wider benefits. I can lift the performance of a team by showing them I am interested in how they develop, regardless of how that turns out. Self-confidence grows, loyalty builds, team working improves. My role as manager shifts to one of leader.
Which is why, when I see people who are clearly not doing all they can do I will challenge them to do more. If that means the moment of self-realisation comes when they decide to move on then do be it. And this is the true test of whether I think I've done a good job while I've had care of their career: do they want to stay in touch.
Previously on this blog...
the global leader in Contact Center Consolidation 2.0
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A dozen beautiful images of Saturn
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Setting up shop in a new country: beyond the website
Building a website for multiple languages is not just about translation. It is a critical business decision that has to be taken carefully.
Why call centre staff deserve your respect
If call centre staff set the first impression for your business, why do we treat them so badly?
Becoming a Specialist? A hard decision to make ...
Specialising requires hard strategic decisions to be made about your business.
When good people move on
Losing a member of staff to another company is not necessarily a bad thing
The quest for quality in Agile Software Development
Why quality assurance remains a central part of project management, regardless of the use of Agile methods
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