What would you, as a leader, do when one of your most loyal, knowledgeable, and productive team members, with one of the most vital functions to your mission comes to you wanting to quit? Let me clarify here. This person doesn't really want to leave the organization. They have not secured another position. They are not having difficulties with other team members. Simply stated, they are burned out with the routine nature, and sheer volume, of the work they are doing.
I am prompted to ask this question because this is the situation my wife finds herself in. She has worked for an organization for 10 years. She is on the agency management team. She has developed a reputation for excellence and is one of the "go-to" people. Because of her accomplishments and acumen for the field she is in, she was "rewarded" with the responsibility of taking care of a vital quality assurance function of the organization. Simply put, she was good at this function, and nobody else in the company wanted to do it.
Over the last two years, she has had two important conversations with her Director regarding the insane volume of work and the fact that it is not stimulating. To her Director's credit, she did make several adjustments that provided some relief in the volume. However, none of the steps taken alleviated the core issue: the work, although crucial to the agencies viability, is boring!
My wife is no longer interested in talking about solutions to the problem. She has decided to leave the organization. Nothing will change her mind.
What would you have done differently if you were her Director? I'd love to hear your comments.
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