A co-founder was surprised by a key employee's resignation but managed to retain him. Instead of focusing on performance, she asked him to describe his ideal role, revealing the problem was role misalignment, not a desire to leave.
A co-founder explained how a single, well-timed query helped her retain a key colleague who had unexpectedly decided to depart. Preeti Malik, co-founder of Digital Creativs, said on LinkedIn that she was taken by surprise when she got the resignation. "He was a good employee. Reliable, bright, wonderful cultural fit," Malik said, noting that the employee had arrived at a scheduled one-on-one meeting prepared to depart, while she had intended to raise issues about his performance.
Before she could address her concerns, the employee requested to speak first. "I won't be able to continue," he explained. Malik then decided to lay aside her objective and tackle the issue differently.
Instead of focusing on performance, she asked a question that changed the direction of the conversation. “If you could design your ideal role, what would that look like?” she asked. The solution, she argued, clarified the fundamental issue. "He was not leaving to make more money. He was leaving due to a role misalignment."
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Malik added that the employee initially loved the automation-related activities for which he was employed. Over time, however, repetitious chores were added, necessitating continual context switching and reducing his engagement.
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“Turned out the automation work, which is what he came in for, the stuff I never had a single problem with… he loved. The tedious work we'd layered on top? He hated it. Because it made him context-switch every two seconds and took focus away from the work he enjoyed,” she wrote.
How Did Social Media React?
The post connected with a large number of people and acquired substantial attention. "We have a similar story where one of our employees was showing less attention to detail because expectations around her role weren't clear enough, but after realigning, she's now one of our star players!" one user wrote.
"This is a compelling reminder that performance concerns are frequently symptoms, not the reason. That one question transformed the entire conversation. More leaders should listen before diagnosing," another remarked.
