Thirteen signs that someone is about to quit, according to research

Professor of Management Peter Hom and his research partner co-wrote this Harvard Business Review article about their research on resignation signals.

Losing a valuable employee can be like stubbing your toe: It's usually a surprise, it immediately hurts your heart, and you feel disappointed for not seeing the signs. But what if you knew you were about to be handed a resignation letter — and could, therefore (maybe) circumvent it? Can you tell if an employee is about to quit?

Possibly — according to research by Professor of Management Peter Hom and Associate Professor of Management at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University Timothy M. Gardner. From their co-written article in the Harvard Business Review:

While our research shouldn’t be considered the only way to identify an employee on the verge of quitting, it does point to a set of behaviors that, taken together, can provide a clue — and it discounts behaviors that have mistakenly been seen as tells. So the next time you have an inkling about whether someone is about to leave, know that you may be onto something when you take the right indicators into account.

About Peter Hom