Timeline for Why would managers want to keep it top secret that an employee is leaving?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
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| Oct 29, 2018 at 12:06 | comment | added | pmf | "Letting team members know earlier than necessary sometimes runs the risk of turning him into a lame duck with no significant benefit" This is especially true for a managerial role. | |
| Jan 6, 2015 at 15:42 | comment | added | Eric J Fisher | It's also worth adding that it's rare you lose "only one" person when any key person resigns in an office. It's quite often when one person leaves a few others will follow. The longer the time everyone knows this person is going typically the more likely they'll take a look around at their options, or talk to the leaving person and potentially come to the decision they also want to move on. (Not saying this prevents the attrition from people leaving, but it mitigates some of the people on the fence.) | |
| Jan 6, 2015 at 14:21 | comment | added | user8365 | I doubt management asked for a lot of feedback from employees on what should be considered the last responsible minute or the OP would know the answer to this question. | |
| Apr 6, 2014 at 23:38 | comment | added | aroth | Of course, there's a difference between proactively "letting employees know" and telling the person who's leaving "the first rule about leaving is that you don't talk about leaving". In my experience employers who do the second thing do it 1) out of fear of how other employees will react and 2) a desire to feel in control of things for the sake of feeling in control. There's not always a legitimate business case to be made. | |
| Aug 12, 2012 at 16:45 | history | edited | yoozer8 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| May 3, 2012 at 20:57 | comment | added | Ethel Evans | +1 - #1 especially is a great reason for even the most ethical companies to wait until later to announce. It's no fun to work for a job where people don't feel that they can rely on you because you're about to leave, especially when you really need to be effective in order to get things wrapped up for the next person to fill your shoes. | |
| May 3, 2012 at 14:34 | comment | added | voretaq7 | One other reason that wasn't mentioned: Not wanting customers to find out - If a key / high-visibility employee is leaving and the employer wants to carefully handle the transition they probably don't want word slipping to customers before they're ready. | |
| May 3, 2012 at 12:31 | comment | added | Permas | @sleske, that's why I mentioned "last RESPONSIBLE minute". Hand overs can be done in a week, a day, an hour. It doesn't make sense to let them know any earlier than is needed for a proper hand over. You can also conduct workshops and transfer knowledge WITHOUT letting them know the instructor is leaving until the right time comes. | |
| May 3, 2012 at 11:54 | comment | added | sleske | I'd argue thet letting employees know earlier creates one important benefit: It allows the leaving employee to transfer his responsibilities and knowledge to others. I have seen several cases where the employer asked the leaving employee to explain things to his successor, or even hold small workshops. That proved quite valuable. | |
| May 2, 2012 at 18:51 | history | answered | Permas | CC BY-SA 3.0 |