Three signs your employee is looking for another job!

The days of having lifetime employees are probably a thing of the past. That concept died with the aging population. People like my mom who worked for the same company for over 25 years, even when working conditions were not so great.  Employees nowadays are looking for more in their employment and are generally not settling. As an employer, it is often challenging to keep people and motivate them for years to come. So what are some of the signs of an employee looking to find another job?

Taking more days off

Are you noticing that your generally consistent employee is now taking more days off? This is a sure sign that your employee might be going on multiple job interviews elsewhere. As an employer, you should not panic! This might be an opportunity for you to have an open conversation with your employee about what their future looks like at your firm. Discuss such things as how valuable they are to the team. Give them a written plan on what opportunities if any exists for them with your firm in 6, 9 or 12 months. This might allow them to keep your employment on the list!

The Click Off

We have all done the "Click Off" at work! Browsing the internet when we should be working and hurrying to click off the browser when you see or hear your boss coming.  This might be a tell tale sign that your employee is looking for work on your dime. If your company has a policy about online surfing at work, then you should have a conversation with your employee about how they are using their time at work. Help them to understand that although they are unhappy, they are still employed by your firm and as such should focus more on their tasks at hand.

The obvious signs of boredom

There comes a time when the look of boredom and lack of challenge becomes too obvious on your employee's face. Sometimes, it is just time for them to move on. If you have room within your company for growth, then use this opportunity to get your employee more excited about work and their time there. Can they be moved laterally if not up? Or can you give them more responsibilities to cure the boredom? Every job has some elements of boredom and there is nothing you can do about certain tasks, but can you make some tasks more exciting?

Final thoughts

Remember that as an employer, you have several responsibilities to your employees. You have to balance your fiscal responsibility with their mental health. Having constant dialogue with your employees with the added element of putting yourself in their shoes is very important. Share with them often allowing them to create a vested interest in the company, this will go a long way in curving turnover. The human experience is not one dimensional and we must all navigate it together!