Help me fellow managers !

[OakElmAsh]

NC for this as I don't want to out myself, but I'm a regular on here

I manage a team of about 25 people in a large company (think Top 4 consultancy for scale & reputation). My team is one that a lot of people want to be on, as the work is challenging & very interesting - I had 40 internal applicants alone for my last vacancy.

One person on my team just sent me an email saying they are looking to leave the team, pursuing other opportunities within our company, but nothing concrete - so the gist of it is "I'm going to leave the team, but I don't know when, so I'm going to tread water here until I find something else I want to do "

This person is not a fantastic performer - does the job pretty much but not a superstar, and has always been a bit of a management overhead (absences, punctuality etc), so I'm not overly bothered about them leaving, and replacing them won't be a problem. The issue I'm have is that I'm utterly pissed off with this Limbo situation where I know they're going, therefore I don't really want to assign them long-term tasks that I'll only have to reassign mid-stream, there is not an awful lot of point in engaging in a serious performance management track, outside of what I'm already doing - I just don't feel like investing time in this person.

I'm at a loss as to how to react - they sent me this email today, and I will need to sit down with them today...all I feel like saying is "hurry up & leave" ... but I don't think thats good management practice :D

How would you manage this ?

I'd probably quiz them on their timescale or preferred timescale, then ask them about their preferred role/job content. Then I'd end by wishing them good luck in their search and offer to help if they needed anything.

I'd end by saying something along the lines of 'I'm sure you'll understand that I won't be giving you long term projects from now on. I'd also like you to start handing over project X to Anne and project Y to Bob.'

The message should be clear that you've accepted they're going and are swiftly moving on. Give them short term tasks only, then you can do an early release when they do find something.

I agree, be bright and breezy and thank them for their honesty re the plan to move on, a bit of chit chat about their plans. Make it clear you have accepted their plan to move so they understand that they have initiated this process. 'I'm sure you'll understand that longer term projects will be handed to those who are intending to stay with us'

If you are in the middle of any performance management programme, advise that this will continue.

Polite, understanding without finding yourself being drawn into a conversation about how to improve things for them in your team. If they had wanted that kind of conversation, it needed approaching properly. I've managed a few people who made veiled threats about leaving rather than ask for an appraisal or approach me about their current situation.

I don't understand why they have sent this message, it's an own goal to announce you are not committed without having something to move onto....unless its an appraisal situation or one to one conversation which naturally leads onto long term plans or aspirations.

I'm not working at the moment so feel a bit of a fraud replying!

"I don't understand why they have sent this message, it's an own goal to announce you are not committed without having something to move onto"

Exactly, its almost like they're attention-seeking, looking for me to beg & plead, to relax some of the rules that they struggle with but that apply to the whole team, to change our whole strategic direction because they don't beleive in it

Anyway, I'm going in a bit calmer now, I think I can be reasonable and not tell them to stop wasting my time & energy !! I'll update afterwards, thanks to you both!

I wouldn't react to that information. From a legal contractual perspective they are telling you information you can't do anything with. Pointless but as you said they are probably trying to prod at you to see if you'll bite.

So are you saying that you've put them on a PIP? If so then you probably have your answer that they're sulking and trying to hold a sword of Damocles over you.

Thought I'd give a little update on this
So I had the conversation with them, said that I would support them in applying for other roles, but that i obviously wouldn't be using them for any new opportunities (projects etc) that will come up in our team

They were actually surprised !! Said that they wanted juicy project as it would help them learn & get another job...I responded that juicy project was an 12 month engagement and that I wasn't going to transition it in the middle, and my priority was our client, not their next job

Anyway, whether or not it was an attempt to push back on performance management (we weren't at a PIP, but at the "if there's no improvement, the next step is a PIP" stage), I'm actually happier - we're very clear now on what they'll be doing until they find something else ... and they've realised that now they've made their intentions clear, they're not going to be able to piss around eternally before leaving !

Glad it looks like it's resolved, but I did think that this was a bit unfair:

This person is not a fantastic performer - does the job pretty much but not a superstar, and has always been a bit of a management overhead (absences, punctuality etc)

ok maybe they take a lot of sick leave and come in late, I'd not be impressed with that, I dislike lateness in particular. But why does everyone have to be a superstar to be considered adequate? I'm often reminded of a lawyer who writes articles about how everyone expects lawyer to exceed expectations, and he said where's the need for that - meeting them is enough. Sometimes, going overboard is the wrong thing to do and create a rod for one's back.

Running, I take your point - this is a high-performing, revenue generating team, and while I was working on the clear problems - missing client meetings, consistantly late for internal obligatory stuff - they were just about scraping their targets.

I wasn't particularly looking to move them on before this message, just looking to tighten up on the problems. That said I wasn't looking to promote... if they had kept at the level they were at, they wouldn't have been in any danger of getting let go, but they wouldn't have had the opportunities that others would have gotten due to exceeding expectations.

Had they been happy with that scenario they could have remained in the team.. but you're right in saying that "happy as I am and not looking to advance" would be an unusual attitude in this type of company culture

A guy who worked under me a few years ago went over my head and told the MD (quite small company)that he would be leaving, he wasn't sure when but he's applying for jobs and needs time off as and when for interviews and he would be pretty much leaving us in the lurch at a busy time .
A week or so later he got caught taking the works van without mine or the MDs permission and found himself jobless. I've never bollocked anyone so much at work 😂

If a colleague would of said that to me I would of had a meeting with them and asked why they want to leave the team what can we change etc find out why they're unhappy. Found out a rough time scale, Then wished them luck in the future and been more stringent on their performance and attendance.

I never understand why people do this, surely you get an interview and offered the job before you mention ANYTHING to current employers

I wonder about this person's ability to think strategically. It's daft to mention that you're leaving until you have a written job offer in hand. You could be in limbo for six months or more depending on the state of the job market and what position you're looking for.

I hope this person isn't directly shaping advice to clients.