Behind every executive resignation is a drama.

An HR friend was chatting with me a few days ago and said with a gloomy face: "Oh, our company expanded last year, and the group of senior executives we just recruited at the end of last year have lost most of them, and some or They resigned voluntarily or passively, and were thrown into the cold palace in frustration, leaving only 2-3 people who were still alive and well. The boss kept asking for people, sometimes urgently, sometimes not urgently, which made the headhunters complain and refused. Leave us alone. I recruited these people. They have come and gone in such a short period of time, and I can’t even talk to them. I have to clean up the mess and be on guard against these executives. Subordinates, don’t worry, if you leave a few more people, you will be really depressed!”

Indeed, the impact of executive departure on a company is many times greater than that of an average employee. After senior executives leave, they must respond to rumors in the media or among the public externally. Internally, they must quickly calm people's hearts and deploy troops to minimize all kinds of adverse effects and unstable factors. A replacement must be sought from the moment of resignation.

If both parties get along well, there will still be a transition period or handover period between the company and the departing person, in order to ensure a smooth transition of the business and find new people as soon as possible and help them take up the position. If you resign out of anger, it will be difficult to have a smooth and responsible handover unless the person leaving the job is kind-hearted. At this time, the interests of the three parties are harmed, leaving scars, the company is caught off guard, and departments are leaderless and fall into chaos. Especially for employees of the company or department where the person left, they are often the last to know, and their morale is the most affected. In addition, the company also has the most distressing person - HR Head. It would be even more heartbreaking if they had hired this person personally. If it is indeed irreversible, HR people must quickly wipe away the tears and make replacements as soon as possible.

In fact, the resignation of senior executives is like a scene in a drama. From "first acquaintance - falling in love - conflict - entanglement - separation", there are scenes of talents and beauties, scenes of encounters between swordsmen, and all the scenes are staged. A story of joys and sorrows, love and hatred.

1. Seeking talents (first acquaintance): When a headhunter or HR recommends a new person to the boss, the two parties get to know each other for the first time. After many rounds of PK without seeing their opponents, both parties have a good impression of each other, and the company is like that. The young man who proposes to propose must state his family background, write poems and articles, and give generous betrothal gifts to win the girl's approval. Some bosses even visit thatched cottages, communicate with candidates many times, and use high-ranking officials, generous salaries, and bright prospects to attract candidates.

2. Lower employment (falling in love): When every executive joins the job, it seems like "I remember Gong Jin's time when Xiao Qiao was first married, and he was so majestic and heroic", and they all want to contribute their best to the new owner. With wisdom, you can expand your territory, make achievements, and open a new career chapter.

3. Integration (falling in love): After the senior executives join the company, the two parties become deeply affectionate and have a period of mutual love. "I went to the kitchen for three days, washed my hands and made soup. I don't know my aunt's food habits, so I sent my sister-in-law to taste it first." Within 3-6 months of joining the company, a new executive is like a newly married bride, trying her best to serve her parents-in-law and take care of the housework, hoping that the soup she makes will meet the taste of her parents-in-law. This is a period of psychological adjustment. Both parties have an in-depth understanding of their governance ideas, work styles and temperaments in order to integrate into the company as soon as possible. Some senior executives are in line with the company's three views and get along well with their bosses and colleagues. Naturally, they are successful all the way, their careers are smooth, their leaders are wise and their ministers are strong, and they are happy.

4. Contradictions: As the work progresses, executives will encounter difficulties at work sooner or later. Some are due to things, some are due to people, and some are due to things and people. Some are new worries, and some are stubborn problems that even the boss can't solve. I hope the newcomers can lead the way and defeat the enemy. Some people crossed the river in danger, while others suffered serious injuries despite crossing the river. The two sides began to have political disagreements over certain matters, or had secret suspicions over certain things, or intentionally or unintentionally violated certain invisible red lines. At this time, there were suspicions and disputes. The boss began to have a bad opinion of the senior executives, and bad blood between the two parties was already brewing.

5. Conflict: When such contradictions or oppositions become more and more direct at work, the working situation of senior executives becomes more and more difficult. Some are artificially created, and some are out of ambition. I often wonder whether my original choice was correct and whether I should persist a little longer. Some have begun to doubt whether their abilities are really incompetent. At this time, the psychology of the executives is fragile. As long as someone helps them, or supports or pulls them, they may survive.

6. Leave: It is often the straw that breaks the camel's back.

This straw finally ended the last glimmer of hope held by one party. It's really like "The orioles in the Guan Guan are talking on the slippery bottom of the flowers, and the deep throat springs are difficult to flow under the ice. The ice springs are cold and stringy, and the condensation can never pass through the sound for a while.". At the end of the song, everyone dispersed, and the two sides fought each other and left. Some can have a thorough heart-to-heart talk like Xun Yu and Cao Cao confessing their feelings, and some can leave without even meeting each other, cutting off their robes and leaving without righteousness.

The life cycle of any executive in a company presents a parabola in which psychological energy goes from low to high, develops to a peak, and then goes from high to low again. However, each stage does not develop evenly, and time Some axes can be very long, as long as several years, and some can be very short, as short as a few months; the curves can be steep or smooth, and sometimes the psychological energy does not drop directly to the bottom, but has several peaks and valleys in between.

As a consultant to the boss, HR Head usually pays great attention to the mentality of senior executives, identifies the level of psychological energy of senior executives, helps senior executives eliminate work obstacles and psychological pressure, and sometimes acts as a liaison between senior executives and senior executives. The bridge between bosses can help the company reduce unexpected resignations, so that executives will not feel resentful towards the company even if they leave.

The reasons why employees leave their jobs, to borrow Jack Ma’s words, are nothing more than lack of money or feeling wronged. The resignation of newly hired executives has little to do with salary. Most of the reasons are related to the direct supervisor (boss). Companies with different levels of management maturity have different understandings of how to treat external executives. Companies with a higher degree of management standards and professionalism, and a detailed coaching period and clear performance goals will not be listed in this article for the time being. I will only describe the mentality of some bosses towards external executives. Let me share with you the influence of senior executives. There may be other reasons. Readers and friends are invited to add.

1.? Arrogant, I am the strongest

Some bosses highly praise and appreciate talents before senior executives join the company, but their mentality towards outside executives changes after they join the company. When new executives have different work ideas, they always rely on past successful experiences or business routines and repeatedly veto or hinder the new executives' proposals and practices. Some even exceed their authority and directly direct the new executives' own work. In this way, the confidence of the new executive will be dampened and his work will be frustrated. How can he serve him with peace of mind? As everyone knows, it is precisely because of the inability to listen to suggestions that the boss speaks out within the company, and internal executives dare not oppose all the boss's ideas, thus forming the mentality of a local emperor. "If your original plan worked, why would you hire new people?" In the end, the company's top executives came and went like a revolving door, and the boss himself was very depressed: "My salary is not low, why can't I keep these people?" Anyone with a discerning eye knows that the reason is that the boss himself does not understand that the problem lies with himself.

2. ? Give up after the beginning, and if it doesn’t work, change it

“Who knows how many real talents these people have, let them come in and give it a try first, anyway, set up the longest trial Period, if it doesn’t work, change it.”

Most of these bosses regard new executives as tools, so they do not conduct careful inspection and selection of new executives before joining the company. They only want to identify talents through the probation period, but they do not know that this kind of hiring mentality is the most harmful thing. , harming others and yourself. On the one hand, the replacement cost of the company is too high, the company's executives change frequently, the business strategy and management model cannot be stable, and the performance will be affected. Over time, the brand image will be damaged, and it will be difficult to recruit people. On the other hand, it is also extremely disrespectful to outside executives. Most people who want to change jobs have a red heart and rush to come to you. Are you just kidding like this? Just like running a marriage, the couple is not focused on the same thing, and they are always thinking about divorce. How can they live this life? If I had known this, why would I have jumped here?

Rather than dismissing a candidate if they are found to be unqualified after joining the company, it is better to conduct a detailed examination and evaluation of the candidate's personality motivation, values ??and work ability during the talent selection stage.

3. Insufficient authorization

Some bosses have a strong desire to control. They are afraid that their subordinates are more capable than they are and will not be able to control them in the future, or they are afraid that others will steal the money in their pockets. Tighten the authority and let the new senior executives report on everything and personally handle all matters big and small. This kind of management method directly demotes oneself to the middle level, and demotes the senior executives to the grassroots employees. I am as tired as my grandson every day, and I dare not take even a day off. A long queue forms at the door of the office every day, asking for reports or signatures from the boss. I was away from the company for a while, and the phone kept ringing urging people to sign for approval. In such a company, the boss is not the boss, and the executives are not executives.

Some bosses have taken away all the authority and cannot handle it themselves, so they give the authority of the boss to their secretary, who will process and filter the information and documents from the senior executives. And selectively told the boss, there was a long queue in front of the secretary's office. The senior executives were reminded of the orders in the secretary's office. I don't know if this was the boss's order or the secretary's order. If you show resistance or disrespect, I will give you small shoes to wear. In such a company, the boss is not the boss, the secretary is not the secretary, and the senior executive is not the senior executive.

4. Be wary, distrustful, and have internal constraints everywhere.

Some bosses have worked hard to expand their companies, are very cautious about hiring and spending money, and are not willing to trust others easily. If it is a family business, it will be even more difficult for a few outsiders to serve as senior executives. On the surface, he respects the foreign executives very much, but in fact, he has placed a few informants near the foreign executives. He listens to all the big and small matters from the informants, and puts the foreign executives under the microscope to observe and restrict them. Anything that is different from his own thoughts Yes, immediately stop it. Some have checks and balances in work arrangements, while others have internal old employees or cronies who form cliques for personal gain and are unanimously xenophobic in order to prevent newcomers from intervening and taking away their own interests. It is difficult for outside executives to work internally. Their superiors do not trust them, their subordinates have informants, and their peers are ostracizing them. How can such a company continue to work? In the past few days, a resume has been on the screen in the circle of friends, which shows that there are many such business owners.

5. Not communicating candidly

Some bosses are too soft-hearted and prefer to listen to the wind. Sometimes, one party is tried in absentia without communicating or confirming the statement of one party. Some people are very superstitious about China's imperial ideology. They are afraid of getting too close to senior executives and letting others find out their own temperament. Therefore, they are most keen to let their subordinates guess their inner thoughts. If things are done well, it is because of their good leadership, and if they are not, they are. Responsibilities of subordinates. Some bosses don't tell their subordinates their opinions or their attitude towards things. They have to talk to A about B and B about C behind their backs. Why bother?

Through formal communication, superiors and subordinates can clarify goals, gather knowledge, clarify needs, correct behaviors, and exchange feelings. Why not?

If the boss does not have good and smooth communication with the new executive and cannot communicate his opinions or suggestions through formal interviews and performance feedback, this kind of mutual suspicion and unclear attitude will make both parties My heart wandered further and further, and finally reached a fork in the road and parted ways.

Whether you are the boss or HR, facing frequently changing executives, you need to reflect on the following aspects and take actions to make changes.

1. Change your mentality, use systems to manage people, and use culture to motivate people

When the boss decides to use professional managers to manage the company, he should recognize the roles The time for transformation and management upgrading is coming, from the original hands-on work to higher-level things such as team building and strategy setting.

Konosuke Matsushita said: When there are 100 employees, I must stand at the front of the employees, take the lead, and give orders; when the number of employees increases to 1,000, I must stand among the employees and plead for their full help; When the number of employees reaches 10,000, I can only stand behind them and feel grateful; if the number of employees increases to 50,000 to 100,000, just being grateful is not enough. I must put my hands together and pray to the Buddha with piety. Let your heart lead them.

Changes in the size of an enterprise require corresponding management models to adapt. At different stages of development of the enterprise, the boss's work focus is different. The larger the company, the more the boss must focus on people and strategies, and try to delegate other matters as much as possible. Abandon the man-to-man strategy, design systems and mechanisms to manage people, use systems and tools to improve efficiency, and use culture and values ??to unite and motivate people. Let all employees focus more on the work itself and the external market, rather than internal fighting and competition for favor.

2.? Improve the recruitment process and strengthen interview selection

In the interview selection stage, conduct a comprehensive inspection and evaluation of candidates. The more careful you are at this stage, the fewer mistakes you will make in employment decisions. The lower. Although it takes some time and cost, this investment is almost negligible compared with the cost of senior executives joining and then leaving.

Toyota's interview for a new employee requires 4-5 steps. In addition to written examinations and interviews, there are also practical operations and company visits. HR spends 1-2 days with them to observe and select talents. The selection of senior executives requires more thought. Wrong talent decisions will bring huge losses to the company.

In addition to the commonly used unstructured interviews, document baskets, role plays and leaderless groups, the following tools and methods can also be used to select talents:

l? Psychological assessment: Focus on examining values, motivations, and personalities, and matching them with the characteristics of the talents needed by the company at the current stage. The author knows a certain cosmetics company. The boss believes in the objectivity and scientificity of psychological assessment and stipulates that every employee must undergo a test before joining. Their HR told me that the validity of this assessment is indeed very high, and their company’s employee turnover rate is very high. Low, far lower than peers.

l ? Behavioral interview/leaderless group discussion: I remember that a few years ago, Nissan Motor once broadcast a program "Challenge a Million Annual Salary" on CCTV 2 to recruit the group's CMO, which was composed of psychologists and corporate executives. Managers and media people formed an interview group and designed multiple links. The candidates were required to complete a market activity under conditions of scarce resources. A leaderless group was formed by multiple candidates and had to pass several difficulties. In the process of completing the task, the candidates' teamwork spirit, judgment, leadership, decision-making type, passion, motivational ability, innovative spirit, etc. are clearly visible under the camera. After completing the task, the winner will have to go through a pressure interview with an interview panel, and finally one person will win. The author once asked a friend about the CMO who was the last person to join the company. He was told that he performed very well after joining the company and lived up to his mission.

l? Keynote speech: Candidates can be given a topic 1-2 days in advance, and candidates are required to use PPT to demonstrate to the company within the designated time. Through this activity, the candidate's way of thinking, rationality of solutions, speaking ability, on-the-spot adaptability and emotional intelligence can be examined from multiple perspectives.

When the author established the first senior management team at the headquarters, he used targeted written examinations, interviews, leaderless group discussions and keynote speeches for the first batch of externally hired senior executives and the middle-level managers of the department. After joining the company, the performance of managers and middle-level managers has lived up to expectations, and they have become the backbone of the headquarters in the future and are extremely loyal.

Ordinary companies do not have the ability to conduct psychological assessments and behavioral interviews, but there are many well-known companies on the market that can provide assessment center technology to conduct psychological tests, interviews, and multiple scenario simulation tests for candidates. A series of assessments to help companies select senior executives.

3.? Integration period counseling

After layers of selection and several rounds of salary communication, the new executives finally joined! How to help them quickly integrate into the company? HR plays an important role in this. It usually involves negotiating a "Newcomer ORIENTATION Plan" for at least one month with the new executive's boss, sometimes the boss himself, in which the boss introduces the company's vision, mission, values ??and future 3 HR introduces the company's strategy and goals for the year to him, including the organizational structure, company culture, business/management/operation processes, job responsibilities, performance goals for the year, his subordinates, etc., and helps him arrange meetings that are conducive to understanding the company's operations and management. Through a series of meetings, interviews and training activities, the boss should be urged to formulate a "Probationary Period Work Goals and Plan" with the new executive, and formal communication should be held with the new executive every month after joining to understand their feelings and solicit their opinions. Comments and suggestions for adjustments to training and coaching.

4.? Supervisor support

Supervisor support means that the boss should foresee the difficulty and difficulty of the new executive's work, so he should try his best to support the new executive's work. Give the green light and create convenient conditions to help the new executives familiarize themselves with the work and understand the employees as soon as possible, so as to maintain the prestige of the new executives. In addition, when the new executive carries out changes that affect the interests of some departments or employees, the bosses must also withstand the pressure and help the new executive block the attack, and do not cause others to be attacked from both sides.

5.? Internal support environment within the company

Promote the spirit of teamwork within the company. When a department encounters difficulties or the company encounters problems, do not attack them in groups. We also need other departments to take the initiative to think of ways and ideas. Solving problems should not just stop at blaming and holding people accountable, but come up with solutions, take immediate action and overcome them.

6. Performance coaching and evaluation

HR of companies without a goal-performance management mechanism should suggest to their bosses to carry out a performance management cycle within the company, break down the goals and at the same time A feedback mechanism is established to allow the company to taste the sweetness of performance management. The responsibility for executive coaching should also be assigned to the boss, so that the boss can maintain one-on-one formal communication and performance feedback with the new executive, and have a frank discussion with the new executive about his expectations, work performance, and the opinions of his peers. Through communication, both parties can at least exchange opinions, have the same goals, and gather common knowledge. Such direct and frank communication is the magic weapon to create high performance and enhance cohesion. The frequency of such feedback or coaching should be higher during the probation period of new executives, so that they can be consistent with other executives after becoming regular.

"The Great Learning" said, "In ancient times, those who wanted to bring virtue to the world should first rule their country. Those who wanted to rule their country, first managed their families. Those who wanted to bring order to their families, first cultivated their own bodies." . It emphasizes that self-cultivation is the prerequisite for governing people, and the purpose of self-cultivation is to govern the country and bring peace to the world. Every day's work in this world is about cultivating one's moral character. Executives and bosses "come together when they work together, and break up when they don't work together." Just keep a humble attitude.