Employee put in her notice, but is now 'poisoning the well' What do I do as her manager?

Anonymous

September 17,2021 at 1:54PM UTC

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Employee put in her notice, but is now 'poisoning the well' What do I do as her manager?

I have an employee who recently put in her two-week notice. It kind of came out of left field but its fine, I am supportive of my people making the best decisions for them. I try to foster an environment where they can even come and be transparent with me and I'm open to offering a reference, etc. We are not trying to create slaves here.

The problem now is she is going around chatting about how awesome the job market is, how great the offers are (much higher than obviously what people are currently making, sure) and blah. My co-managers are kind of annoyed, rightfully so. They are worried we'll start to lose others. Mind you we don't pay horribly (this particular employee was making over $90k) but in this economy I guess if you can go make $120k why not. I mean its more than I make lol.

What do I do? She has a week left but honestly I don't really need her sticking around this next week if she's going to be pissing everyone off. She has an attitude already (she's been snippy and catty to me and other managers, kind of a 'uh I don't need to answer to you' - when she in fact does answer to me) so its only gotten worse since she is clearly 'out the door'. I want to express to her that leaving on good-terms is always preferable but I don't think it will land as me trying to be helpful (when in fact in this industry, you shouldn't get a reputation - we all come around and work together again eventually). Advice super appreciated. Maybe I should just let it go and let her leave and not try to do anything?

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Kristie WhiteSeptember 17,2021 at 2:04PM UTC
You should absolutely tell her to go ahead and leave and good riddance. She has likely been poisoning the well for some time behind your back and now that she is leaving, she doesn't care to hide it anymore. Tell her you are sure that she has a million things to do for her transition, ask for her keys, and tell her you've arranged it so she's not needed in the office anymore. Goodbye!
Käte DavisSeptember 17,2021 at 2:52PM UTC
I agree with Christie - nothing says she has to stick around for the next week. In fact, you can position it so it's a good thing - go enjoy your next week off so you can get ready for your new job!
Orlagh CostelloSeptember 17,2021 at 3:26PM UTC
I agree! Get her out as quickly as possible.
Lu SabalSeptember 17,2021 at 3:31PM UTC
This is simple - - pay her what you owe her in terms of vacation, etc and LET HER GO NOW! You can position it as a "restructure of the department" Her behaviour isn't uncommon and often when people give notice they've checked out long ago psychologically. You're doing her a favor - - she'll have time to prepare for her new position, and your current employees can focus on the work at hand.
Sarah StadtherrSeptember 17,2021 at 3:35PM UTC
Buh bye Felicia!
Anita GetzSeptember 17,2021 at 3:36PM UTC
Just let her go now. Just tell her, that she can go now, and take the next week to prepare for her new position. Wish her well and be done with it.
AnonymousSeptember 17,2021 at 3:37PM UTC
Let her go early.
AnonymousSeptember 17,2021 at 4:09PM UTC
Give her the week off to prepare for her next career move. But also take into consideration and learn why she left and why did she even begin seeking new employment? There is always an underlying reason why an employee begins searching for a new position. They are not happy for some reason. Pay, culture, workload, career growth, etc.
AnonymousSeptember 17,2021 at 6:10PM UTC
This. I have done this multiple times. You cannot let toxic behaviour destroy what you have spent so much time creating. Good riddance.
Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistSeptember 18,2021 at 2:03AM UTC
Cut her lose. You're going to have to pay her for that time anyway, why let her stick around and do more damage? I agree with Christine below - Walk her out the door.
AnonymousSeptember 18,2021 at 4:30AM UTC
Does she have any vacation time?
Don’t apologize to her, just tell her that her recent attitude and disrespect displayed, she can either use her leftover vacation time and leave now or just have today be her last day (but check with HR. You may have to have a check with her final pay available to her before you walk her out the door.
Also, I would walk her back to her desk, let her get her purse and any personal pictures, etc., get her badge/keys, and walk her out the door.
I had an employee that I let stay until the end of the day, and when I came in the next morning, discovered that she had thrown away all her documentation and files. Because the trash cans had been emptied the night before, everything was gone and we were SOL…
AnonymousSeptember 18,2021 at 12:19PM UTC
Cut her loose and tell her not to come back to the office.
Healthcare workerSeptember 18,2021 at 10:45PM UTC
I agree with what others are saying here about just let her be done but realize she will still be communicating with those employees after she leaves. I didn’t see anyone say this so I would recommend examining employee morale. She may just be a bad apple but I have seen managers write off employees leaving in such a fashion as oh that person was toxic etc, only to have a great wave of people leave. You may very well have missed how your staff is feeling right now. Let her go immediately but start working on some retention strategies you can’t control who your employees talk to outside of work.
AnonymousSeptember 19,2021 at 2:24AM UTC
Talk to HR and see if she can leave immediately without working out her notice. We've had people asked to leave immediately for the well poisoning thing. They were paid the rest of their notice (because the company is nice that way) but told not to come back, their IT accounts and security badges shut down. HR shipped their personal items.
AnonymousSeptember 19,2021 at 12:52PM UTC
If saying that the job market is good is poisoning the well, I hesitate to think what you would do if you heard what some people say at my job. Things like sexting with the patrons are what we call poisoning the well....the job market is something that you can't control, but how you treat her is likely to come back to your doorstep if your industry is small and tight like you say.
AnonymousSeptember 20,2021 at 2:55PM UTC
Her talk of how great it is, the salaries are so high, the stock options she is getting elsewhere, etc is the thing making our other employees do a mass exit. I feel like our team has great other bonuses (hence why I stay) I have a lot of great people but I know they wish they were making more, that we had stock options, etc. That is all.
AnonymousSeptember 20,2021 at 6:05PM UTC
If employees are leaving enmass you need to look at why. It's not them, it's you.
AnonymousSeptember 21,2021 at 8:39PM UTC
well its the company. We know we can't offer these insane salaries and stock options.
Healthcare workerSeptember 23,2021 at 1:48PM UTC
Can’t or won’t. My company cries poor all the time about not being able to keep up with what competitors are offering to our staff but yet they are running record margins, much higher than other companies in our industry and much higher than overall industry averages, and those C-suite to mid-levels never miss a cash or stock bonus or paid company trip, oh I’m sorry “retreat” etc. the salaries aren’t insane and the stock options are warranted why shouldn’t the people doing the work driving the stock higher share in that profit?
Healthcare workerSeptember 20,2021 at 7:05PM UTC
She isn’t making other people leave on masse the current market conditions vs the conditions in your company are. This is hard for all managers I know, since the employees for so long have operated from a place of fear, but that ship has sailed, the power balance between employees and employers have “right sized”. Doesn’t sound so right on the receiving end does it. Your company will need to adapt to the changing market conditions to remain competitive.