Having an employee quit "can feel like a gut punch, leaving managers scrambling both emotionally and operationally," writes Anthony C. Klotz, associate professor at the Texas A&M Mays Business School and Mark C. Bolino, professor at the University of Oklahoma's Price College of Business. The pair expand on the learning opportunity that surfaces after a team member resigns. They encourage leaders to be "willing to reflect on and identify the root cause of such losses."

Many organizations conduct exit interviews to discover the underlying cause for employee resignation, but these often prove ineffective. When a team member quits impulsively, the opportunity for an interview is lost. In the case that an interview does occur, employees can become cautious in being too honest, or they may believe that the meeting is a waste of time, thinking the company won't be willing to change.

Klotz and Bolino provide three recommendations for companies that want to respond to resignations in more constructive ways:

1. Investigate how the employee resigned. There tend to be seven different "styles" of resignation, some healthy and some destructive. This ranges from employees who depart with a "grateful goodbye" and give a "by the book" two-weeks notice to the "bridge-burning" team member who quits impulsively without notice. "These styles often reflect how departing employees feel they were treated by their organization and their manager prior to leaving," the two write.
2. See what the coworkers closest to the employee have to say. While this one is undoubtedly touchy, Klotz and Bolino believe reaching out to people close to the employee who resigned may help fill in gaps in the reason for leaving. "Of course, some colleagues may feel that the company is asking them to be disloyal to their friend by sharing this potentially private information," they write. Although tricky, this approach may also allow current employees to discuss their thoughts and opinions openly.
3. Examine and learn from what the employee does after they leave. Companies can learn quite a bit by tracking where former team members go after resigning. "If there is a trend of employees’ leaving to work for a particular competitor, then it is certainly worth looking into that firm’s culture, development programs, compensation, and benefits to determine why your organization is losing talent to a rival," explain the professors. 

In the end, having someone quit on you is never fun, but in today's market, job opportunities are vast, and retention can be a challenge. Perhaps, adopting some new methods can help facilitate internal growth in the face of this unfortunate setback.