I think the most demotivating part of Harper’s job is that she is being overworked due to her prior supervisor leaving the company and Harper taking on some of his old tasks. Which is now hampering her work/life balance, and she feels her boss David does not acknowledge how hard she’s working and is unable to communicate with him efficiently. She wants to leave the company because she feels no one is attempting to fill her old supervisor’s position and she will have to continue with this workload.
If I were an HR manager meeting with David (Harper’s boss) I would explain to David he needs to ensure he creates a culture of open communication in the office. There’s no reason an employee should feel they can come to management with issues they are having pertaining to work. Also make it a priority to help employees feel valued, I am sure Harper would feel better if once in a while David acknowledges Harper’s hard work and rewards her. Because Harper is a key employee, losing her would be a downside for the company because it would mean limiting productivity, it’s a drain on the company’s staff, and would mean you would need to find someone to replace and train someone in Harper’s position.
HI Nadia! I agree that one of the main issues that needs to be fixed at this case of employee disengagement is the lack of open communication! I feel like this is so hard, to communicate openly by being real, vulnerable, and honest–it’s often easier to stew, be passive aggressive, or even hostile, than to be vulnerable and try to communicate openly! David is going Marketable, and himself, a major disservice by being “seemingly unavailable”–what is interesting, though, is from the facts we don’t know if David really is aloof and un-engaged! We just know he seems that way. It’s not good that he projects self-importance or stress to the level of being seemingly unavailable though! He should get with the program and start checking in with his people, before he begins loosing some valuable talent!