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An Open Letter to the Employee Who Got Away

You may remember that I had a key employee put in his notice a few months ago. If you read that story, then I left you in suspense as to whether I was able to convince that employee to stay. I didn't want to admit it it at the time, but he did leave the company, despite my best efforts to keep him.

You may remember that I had a key employee put in his notice a few months ago. If you read that story, then I left you in suspense as to whether I was able to convince that employee to stay. I didn’t want to admit it it at the time, but he did leave the company, despite my best efforts to keep him.

Image: Thinkstock

His name was Ben. We loved him, and he left. I felt like a failure and didn’t want to admit that I experience drama just like anyone else. I gut checked myself this week. The more authentic and vulnerable I am, the better this blog will be for everyone. So Ben left, and my mismanagement caused it. There. I said it. I feel better now. That said, I’m no quitter. I hated to see him go and started planning my recovery mission.

Typically, when an employee quits, the feeling is mutual. Not with Ben. Ben’s departure was a real miss, and I even mismanaged trying to keep him the first time. Here’s my next attempt. Below is an open letter to Ben, guessing what led to his departure and telling him how we’ve changed in the interim. If this letter resonates with you, please say so in the comments. We’re all out here together and no one wants to lose a Ben.

Ben:

You left Livewire, and we miss you. I spent a lot of time reflecting on your departure and put together a list of mistakes the company made:

1.You didn’t feel supported. You asked for more face time with your supervisor and me and didn’t get it.
2.You didn’t see an opportunity for advancement.
3.You didn’t feel like I cared enough.
4.You wanted to feel part of something fun and exciting and found yourself stuck in a rut.
5.Even when I found out you wanted to leave, I offered you a position that best suited my needs, not yours.

I heard you loud and clear and we decided to change some things around to make life better for everyone at Livewire:

1.We have a new leadership program where lead technicians are all getting together at least once per month to work on their own management skills and have opportunities to voice concerns and suggest areas of opportunity for us.
2.We introduced a new field technical trainer role to ensure all our employees are getting the best training and feeling supported. All new hires spend time in the field with our technical trainer until they get their sea legs.
3.We’re now running our Network Operations Center full-time to better support installers in the field and help our clients with their technical support issues.

I wish it hadn’t gotten to the point where you wanted to leave, but our hope is to prevent another key employee from walking out the door.

We want you back. Come check us out. You’ll like what you see.

Best,

Henry

There it is. My Hail Mary play to get Ben back. Have you ever lost a Ben and gotten him back? How did you do it?

Stay frosty and see you in the field.

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