Studies have shown that financial compensation is not the number one reason why employees leave a company and Harper was no exception to this fact. She was not leaving due to her compensation package she wanted to leave because she feels overwhelmed, overworked, undervalued, uninformed, and not heard. This resulted in her becoming demotivated in her current position.

The most demotivating aspect of Harpers’ job seems to be the fact that she was not being informed of the changes happening around her. The changes were happening without her input, and this resulted in an increased workload which caused her to lose her work/life balance. Harper became accustomed to being kept informed by her former boss Jose and suddenly she is not. She felt that her new boss David does not value her enough to have open communication with her about things that are happening in the workplace. Her compensation was not her focus as the mention of it seems as if it was an afterthought.

Another noticeable fact was that Harper had been with the company for 4 years without any form of upward growth. She might have accepted this when Jose was her boss because Jose made her feel like a part of the team by using effective and frequent communication. On the other hand, David seemed accustomed to a culture of just giving employees work and leaving them to figure it out. He also has more responsibility than Jose but that is no excuse not to take a moment to communicate with Harper, listen to her concerns and find an effective solution.

To get them to re-engage I would inform Harper of her importance to the company. I would make it clear that her experience and work over the past 4 years has been valuable and appreciated and reconsidering her resignation would be appreciated. A clear and transparent investigation would be done to ensure an amicable and mutual resolution that would prevent any future misunderstanding with Harper or any other employees in the company.

 David would be asked to implement a clear and precise development plan for Harper as 4 years in the same position without advancement requires a closer look. He would also need to re-assess her workload to see if in fact it is manageable or if the work is fairly and equally distributed amongst all employees and take the necessary steps if they are not. There are times when employees are given tasks without managers realizing that at some point it has become overwhelming. At times when a manager or supervisor knows an employee is competent and efficient, they tend to make that person the “go to” person for important tasks without realizing the amount of work given has become unmanageable.

If David found the workload was equally distributed, and Harper was voicing her complaint because she felt left out of the usual department communication then he would need to advise her of this fact. He would then be asked to look for the root of the complaint which could have been the perceived sudden lack of communication. This would be solved with having an open-door policy where employees like Harper could come to speak about their concerns or give suggestions knowing that they are being heard. Feedback or follow-up would be required immediately or later as ignoring a suggestion or complaint from any employee, including Harper would not be an option.

The number one asset of any organization is its employees and not valuing your employees means you do not value the company. There are several downsides to losing Harper and rehiring and training her replacement. The financial aspect is that it costs more to hire and train a new employee than it would to retain and employee. There is also the burden of maintaining productivity that would be placed on the employees that remain while the company searches for a qualified replacement. This would result in overworked employees that becomes overwhelmed and disengaged just like Harper did.

There is also the possible loss of intellectual property resulting from her leaving. Surely Harper has access to present, past, and possibly future customers. She could poach these customers along with the company’s marketing strategies with her. This would cause a financial loss to the organization.

Overall, it is cheaper and simpler to retain an employee than it is to lose and employee and every reasonable effort should be made to retain, especially if the employee is a loyal and valuable member of staff that would rather remain and grow with the company.