You made an exception for someone. You paid more than you wanted to or gave an extra perk or two to get someone hired or to keep them on board. Your supervisors said you had no choice as we needed this person very badly. You knew the other employees would learn about the “special deal” – they always do. The other employees were not happy and they felt they deserved the same sort of deal. The other employees were already threatening to quit or were already making their case as to why they deserved it to. How do you get yourself into these boxes?
Then the other shoe falls, the “special deal” employee quits a short time later anyways. Turns out he was just using you to negotiate with one of your competitors. Now you are stuck in a position where you lost the employee, you have a number of employees who are demanding the “deal” and you have employees who are looking elsewhere. They think you did not do right to begin with and the toxic employees are using this as an example of all the bad things they are already saying about you. The box you are in just got smaller!
The most prevalent problem in this area starts with an organization not having a documented set of rules. The have practices and maybe even a policy or two. However these practices are not governed by a well thought out strategy and plan. Many times these practices are nothing but copies of what competitors do and are not customized to the organization at hand.
You are playing to your weaknesses not your strengths
Over the years I have found there is a quick solution to the short term problem which will cost you virtually nothing and eliminate the other employees from being able to demand the “special deal”. The solution works every time no matter the state, industry or organization.
For the long term solution, you need to determine the root cause of the problem which created this scenario. When you identify this root cause you can build a recruiting and retention strategy which fits your particular organization. A major goal of this strategy and plan will to eliminate any boxes which you keep getting shoved into while reducing your employee turnover.
Can we help you out of your box by playing to your strengths not your weaknesses?
