Any employee worth their salt usually will wait until after they’ve received their bonus compensation until making an employment change. Often this coincides with year but not always. Because of this employers need to anticipate some employment right about now.
So what should an employer do in anticipation of a small or large exodus – things that they should be doing throughout the year. This includes:
- Making sure all post-employment covenants are signed and enforceable;
- Making sure all employment files are up to date with copies of all agreements;
- Making sure all employment agreements are up to date; and
- Making sure there are policies in place and procedures that are followed when an employee announces they are going to leave.
Now,if the employee who is leaving has a garden leave policy (meaning they have to give notice of their departure before they actually depart) or a non-compete/non-solicit agreement remind them of their obligations. Usually most employers will provide them with a copy of the agreement along with a nice but firm letter advising them of their obligations.
If there is certain proprietary information that the employee has access to, end their acces to that information once they announce their intentions or even before their announcement. Hopefullly that employee hasn’t already taken that type of information with them but often times they have. If there is suspicion of such conduct review emails or access to networks at odd times to see if some type of "information dump" took place. The IT folks can assist with this type of analysis.
Some of this may sound like paranoia but it pays to be proactive. Employees will always depart for a variety of reasons – be ready.
