GUEST COMMENT: Predict colleagues' resignations in three easy moves
At this time of year, people resign. One week a colleague is there; the next, her or she is gone. To avoid separation anxiety and allow you to win any bets placed on an individual's likely departure, I suggest you use the following test to assess the chances of their desk being empty tomorrow.
1) Unnatural stress and busyness
Is your colleague abnormally stressed and busy? If the answer is yes, it is quite possible that they are attempting to combine job hunting with the daily pressures of work.
I previously had the pleasure of working with a particularly bipolar individual who would alternate between smiling and pleasant to aggressive and Neanderthal. When his time came to move to a smaller shop on an inflated package (he was too senior to care about brand dilution) his oscillations grew to epic proportions.
2) Use of entire statutory holiday before the end of Q2
Unused annual leave is a badge of honour in the City. If someone starts using all their holiday allowance in the first two quarters, it is usually a sign that they are intending to move. Equally, physio appointments, eye tests, and visits to clinics for the treatment of sedentary lifestyles are all an indication that time is being taken out for interviews.
Personally, I've had the unfortunate pleasure of working for a line manager prone to giving motivational speeches on the virtues of working for a, "new, enhanced firm, ready to leverage its skillset and capabilities across a broader platform".
He rounded off one such call to action with a glance at the most senior guys (read: profit centres) at the back and asked,"How many dentist appointments can any of you actually have in a month?". His question was met with raised eyebrows and an uncomfortable silence. Two weeks later, they'd all left.
3) Total disinterest in the task at hand
I previously worked for an earnest American who was very proud of his MBA from Harvard Business School, mostly because it was all he'd accomplished in life.
He instituted Monday morning team meetings to, "review and strategize ongoing projects in our pipeline" (Sic).
They were mainly used as a megaphone for various senior people to talk about how great they were and how valuable their clients would be for the firm, just as soon as they signed their first fee letter. Paolo (not his real name), a VP, loved to arrive late. Perhaps he really believed that only unimportant people are punctual, or maybe it was his way of reminding us of the superiority of Mediterranean business practices.
He would sit through everyone else's droning, staring at his Blackberry. When it came to his turn he'd talk his own book for at least twenty minutes.
Then one day Paolo arrived on time, and hardly spoke a word in the meeting. We were all amazed. The next day he cleared out his desk, having achieved a comfortable internal role at one of his clients.
