Ask HN: How to Deal with Multiple Resignations? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How to Deal with Multiple Resignations?

#21

Post by Agingcoder » Sun, Jun 06, 2021, 9:44 PM UTC

You can't : if I were in their shoes I simply wouldn't believe you, and would leave as quickly as possible.

You could try giving them 'unbreakable' contracts (pay X with X big if you end up firing them) but even then, they know that if it's only about money, they will eventually be fired.

Basically, it looks like you now have one giant trust issue.

If I were a bit cynical, I'd say it's a great way for US management to get rid of the entire Australian team without having to deal with the complexities of firing everyone at once (which might be difficult or expensive in some countries, I don't know about Australia ).

Re: Ask HN: How to Deal with Multiple Resignations?

#22

Post by rdtwo » Sun, Jun 06, 2021, 10:42 PM UTC

Well for one you should be looking for a new job. If you are a management type your job search will take longer. Your R&D team is being retired or will be soon having been disconnected from production. So figure out how long this process will take and offer them bonuses to stay till the end

Re: Ask HN: How to Deal with Multiple Resignations?

#23

Post by softwaredoug » Sun, Jun 06, 2021, 11:46 PM UTC

"Your jobs are safe" isn't quite the same as the jobs will be fulfilling. I can imagine the team saying "well the writings on the wall, we're not doing the fun stuff anymore, its getting sent to the US team."

Re: Ask HN: How to Deal with Multiple Resignations?

#24

Post by ManlyBread » Mon, Jun 07, 2021, 2:22 PM UTC

Most likely you can't.

The signal from these actions is clear - there's no stable footing in this company anymore. People are leaving because there is no telling what comes next and it is better to leave on your own terms than to get fired.

Promises are worthless because the company can break them at any time. If you're serious about any then put them in writing so the terms are clear.

Re: Ask HN: How to Deal with Multiple Resignations?

#25

Post by muzani » Mon, Jun 07, 2021, 3:07 PM UTC

It sounds like lack of trust. Throwing more money at the problem won't secure trust. You'd probably have to go the hard route, which is having some honest conversations with people.

Re: Ask HN: How to Deal with Multiple Resignations?

#26

Post by bryan_w » Mon, Jun 07, 2021, 9:59 PM UTC

Let's say they are making $80k/yr: I'd offer them a $40k bonus if they stay 2 years and a severence of at least $160k if they are made redundant in the next 2 years. This should buy you some breathing room to show that things are stable.

Re: Ask HN: How to Deal with Multiple Resignations?

#27

Post by foobarbaz33 » Wed, Jun 09, 2021, 4:17 AM UTC

qetuo13579 wrote: post #4

DamonHD wrote: post #2

Have you asked the 3 who resigned why? All of the things that you suggest may help, but if it turns out that they all hate US HQ or at least don't trust it and have mentally committed to jumping ship, it may be better to let them go. I've not seen good results from keeping people once they've passed that point.

Two got spooked and were nervous about their future with only 13 months tenure. The third is a senior dev with more than 10 years who’s disgruntled and convinced he’d only be kept on to tidy up loose ends and then discarded. Of the remaining engineers some have 18 months tenure and others 8 years.

The guys may be scared or disgruntled. But they very well could be making assumptions that line up with reality. Even you may not be privy to the long term plans for AUS. It may be a temporary stay until product knowledge is well established in the USA.