If you've been an employer for long enough, then it will almost certainly have happened to you. Completely out of the blue, an employee you depended on will turn around and quit. Just like that.

You are left with a big gap to fill and a nagging doubt in your mind about whether it was your fault they left. At this stage you should have three priorities:

1.      Immediately devise a plan for replacing the employee.

2.      Try to find out why they left, and whether it could have been prevented.

3.      Take measures to protect your business from your ex-employee.

Short-Order Recruiting

When you need to recruit a replacement member of staff quickly, your options are limited. For most employers, the only option is professional assistance from a recruitment agency of some kind. Historically, this has meant a bricks-and-mortar agency with a list of local staff on its books.

However, more and more employers now turn to agencies that operate online, and also to job marketplace sites such as Monster.com (professional staff) and HireWorkers.com (non-professional US staff). These sites enable you to directly access the details of potential employees who match your requirements, and arrange interviews with them very quickly, without incurring the high fees charged by the traditional agencies.

Whichever of these paths you choose, hopefully you will find a suitable candidate who is able to fill your vacancy promptly.

Protect Yourself

It is an unfortunate fact that some people, when they quit a company, hold a grudge of some kind against their former employer. Sometimes, this results in attempts to sabotage that person's business or assets. There are a few sensible precautions that any employer should take when an employee leaves in unexpected circumstances. The specifics may depend on job roles, but the principles apply regardless:

·        If possible, ensure the employee returns all tools, keys and other equipment before leaving. Arrange for its collection from their home if necessary.

·        If the employee had access to security alarm codes, safe combinations, computer passwords or any other similar information, change it. Delete any computer accounts they may have had.

·        If the employee had direct relationships with any of your clients, then it is a good idea to contact them directly yourself to advise them of the change in contact, and ensure they are not planning to cease using your services – your departing employee may try to poach your clients.

These simple steps may seem inconvenient at the time, but could save you a lot of time and money later on.

Look Closer To Home

One stage that should not be neglected when an employee quits unexpectedly is to try and understand why he or she felt they had to leave. It may relate to personal or family commitments that are outside your control, as an employer. If so, fine. But there is also a good chance that it will relate to some aspect of their work environment – be it working conditions, work levels or management.

Try to find out about the cause of the departure – ideally, speak directly to the departing employee about it, in private, to see if there is an underlying problem in your organization that you are not aware of. This might be an opportunity to address it.

Conclusions

There will always be cases of employees quitting unexpectedly, but it is usually worth taking a little time to analyze each occurrence, and following the simple steps described in this article, so that you can try and reduce the frequency with which your employees unexpectedly quit.