As a people manager you are cruising along in your job - apart from market and client dealings, you motivate your teams, carry out employee appraisals, formulate development plans, assess financial remunerations, forecast and plan to hire based on projected growth in business. Then suddenly you are hit with a resignation of an employee. Where did that come from? Did you anticipate this? If you did, perhaps you could have prevented the resignation, but the chances are that you were taken by surprise as you did not notice the signs of trouble.

Managers can be proactive in preventing such surprises by focusing on changes in employee patterns of behavior. Interpreting behavioral changes is not exact science, but based on experience on the field, the following signs are vital clues:

Employee takes long vacations during period of critical business activity
This is a good indication of someone who wants to avoid hard work, or even take revenge, just before leaving the company. This may not be a good indicator for a new employee but for a seasoned employee who has been contributing towards business success, this is a vital sign of a pending problem. A classic example is of a salesman who decides to go on non-emergency leave in the last few weeks of a crucial quarter end during a time when the company is struggling to meet its revenue targets. Such an action is usually only taken when another job offer is on the table.

Burst of job related activities on social networks
If a manager is connected to an employee on LinkedIn or Facebook, then chances that a manager will pick up unusual activities of the employee are pretty high. A typical example: one employee fails to appear at work on a day when his presence is essential, citing that he was not well. Some days later the employee's manager sees photos of the employee partying with his friends in a country nearby on the day the employee claimed he was ill!

I am not suggesting for a minute that managers should spy on employees - this is unethical and totally unacceptable as every person has the right to do what he/she wishes in private time. Do not be like one CEO in the Middle East who used to monitor jobsites like Bayt.com and Jobserve.com to see which of his employees uploaded CVs, and then blacklisted them for training and promotion.

If an employee is joining job groups and linking up with recruiters, you know something is brewing.

However, be careful here - this activity may simply be that employee wants to know his/her worth in the market, especially before appraisal time. Look for other tell-tale signs as well to confirm employee is about to jump boat.

Being switched off, lagging behind work, demotivated
I have observed on numerous occasions that many people slow down at work, or switch off, one, two or even three months before they leave a company. Often their work will lag - you may hear complaints from clients or other team members that tasks are not carried out or deliverables are not on schedule. Creativity will vanish and energy level of employee declines. There will be loss of 'shine' in team meetings, quietness may set in or the employee may simply look dazed. The employee will be physically visible, yet invisible when it comes to contribution to teamwork.

Being argumentative at workplace
Some employees show their discontent with their job through becoming argumentative. If the behavior of the employee begins to change suddenly and does not return to normal patterns quickly, trouble could be brewing. This could be caused by personal conflicts - perhaps someone has upset the employee, or some other issue like external politics may have made an impact. Aside from these factors, the employee may simply be venting anger on people - a sign that he/she is considering an exit.

Coming late to work and/or leaving early
Coming late to work or leaving early regularly is an obvious sign that something is wrong. Now, it could be that the employee's car has broken down and catching a bus or a train may be causing delays. It could also be the fact that employee is now dropping off the child to school or picking up the child in the afternoon. Upon examination, if there are no clear signs that the employee has genuine reasons to be late or to leave early, you can bet that the employee is searching for another job.

Sudden pay demand
Employees are normally tactful in asking for pay rise. This may come through informal chats over a period of time, during the appraisal period, or when contracts are renewed for freelancers or when job responsibility is increased, for example, through promotion. If there is a sudden demand in pay increase outside these times or circumstances, the chances of another job offer is very high.

High volume data copying
Some people try to take data with them when leaving an organisation. This may be a contacts database, proposals, technical documentation, drawings or images and so on. As data is held on networked servers nowadays, there could be a surge in network activity for an about-to-go employee. This is very difficult activity to detect, but if there are sound network security policies in place, then these types of unusual activities can be detected.

A few words of caution
Finally, a few words of caution are needed. There could be many understandable reasons why an employee may display an unusual behavior. It could be that a family member has become ill and this is causing anxiety. Financial problems may be another source - perhaps the employee has lost money through an investment that went wrong. It could also be that someone is going through relationship breakdown, like a divorce. Changes in the organisation, such as the appointment of a new executive or internal reorganisation, may cause uncertainties which lead to anxiety, anger, depression and demotivation.

A good manager always assumes the employee to be trustworthy unless proven otherwise. So the first step is to examine the well-being of the employee by engaging the employee and listening carefully to see if there are family or financial problems. Next, the organisation's environment should be examined - is there pending reorganisation or new management in place? Is there a job security issue? Has the market shifted so that your competitors are paying much more?

Detecting early and interpreting signs of unusual employee behavior is essential for managers to avoid urgencies becoming emergencies. If the employee decides to leave regardless, do give your thanks, and provide good reference and best wishes - the employee will remember your kind actions and will be your and your organisation's best advert in the market.

About the author
Shabeer Ahmad is a software sales manager at a leading IT company in the Gulf. Shabeer has worked for global blue-chip companies like EDS, Royal Bank of Scotland and Toyota in the US and Europe. Shabeer is the author of the book "The Inspired Manager: 40 Islamic Principles for Successful Management', which was published in the UK by Hothive Books. The book is available worldwide on Amazon and is carried in the Middle East by Jarir Bookstores.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inspired-Manager-Shabeer-Ahmad-Gazdar/dp/1906316406
Email: shabeer@inspiredmanager.com