--- title: 4 warning signs an employee is about to quit description: If you recognize the warning signs, you can have an influence on an employee who is ready to quit. --- [Skip to content](https://blog.innovativeemployeesolutions.com/ies-blog-nb-24/blog/employer-best-practice/4-warning-signs-an-employee-is-about-to-quit#main-content) [![IES Logo_Full-ColorNavy](https://blog.innovativeemployeesolutions.com/hs-fs/hubfs/IES%20Logo_Full-ColorNavy.png?width=300&height=140&name=IES%20Logo_Full-ColorNavy.png)](https://www.innovativeemployeesolutions.com/) - [Innovative Employee Solutions Blog](https://blog.innovativeemployeesolutions.com) - [Innovative Employee Solutions Blog](https://blog.innovativeemployeesolutions.com) [mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https://blog.innovativeemployeesolutions.com/ies-blog-nb-24/blog/employer-best-practice/4-warning-signs-an-employee-is-about-to-quit](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https://blog.innovativeemployeesolutions.com/ies-blog-nb-24/blog/employer-best-practice/4-warning-signs-an-employee-is-about-to-quit) April 27, 2015 # 4 warning signs an employee is about to quit Written by: [Danielle Itani](https://blog.innovativeemployeesolutions.com/ies-blog-nb-24/author/ieswebditani) No business likes to lose good workers. If one of your staff members quits, you have to spend time and money looking for another candidate. According to a recent Center for American Progress study, for all positions earning less than $50,000 a year, the average cost of replacing an employee is [20 percent](https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/labor/report/2012/11/16/44464/there-are-significant-business-costs-to-replacing-employees/) of a person's yearly salary. If you recognize the warning signs, you can have an influence on an employee who is ready to quit. 1. **Employee takes many sick and personal days** Personal and sick time is pretty precious to most workers, so using it all at once doesn't make a lot of sense. If an employee has taken a lot of time off at the beginning of the year, it is likely that he is just getting rid of his personal and sick days before he calls it quits.  2. **Employee is becoming less productive** If you notice that a once vigorous worker is not productive anymore and seems apathetic about her work, it is a bad sign. Whether her indifference is due to a recent change in the company or boredom, you can still encourage the employee to stay with the organization. For example, if you think your employee does not have enough challenging tasks to do during the day, try including her in a different project. You can also offer the employee more flex time. According to an article on The Next Web written by Matt Straz, letting a staff member [work from home](http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2014/09/13/work-hard-work-happy-secrets-productive-employees/) occasionally will help her waste less time in traffic and get more work done.  3. **Employee doesn't attend any office functions** Whether it's a holiday party or happy hour, company functions give staff members a chance to socialize with their co-workers outside of office hours. If you can't remember the last time your employee attended an office function, he probably doesn't enjoy his job that much. If you want to prevent this person from quitting, talk to him as soon as possible about his position. If he tells you that he is unhappy with his job, ask him what changes you can make. 4. **Employee constantly complains** If a worker frequently whines about something, it is only a matter of time until she starts looking for another job. Instead of ignoring an employee's complaints, address them and see if you can resolve the issues. Tag(s): [Employer Best Practice](https://blog.innovativeemployeesolutions.com/ies-blog-nb-24/tag/employer-best-practice) ## [Danielle Itani](https://blog.innovativeemployeesolutions.com/ies-blog-nb-24/author/ieswebditani) ## Other posts you might be interested in View All Posts ## [3 Habits of the Ultra-Focused 2 min read | March 18, 2016 What These Ultra-Focused People Are Doing That You’re Not Read More](https://blog.innovativeemployeesolutions.com/ies-blog-nb-24/blog/employer-best-practice/ultra-focused-people-youre-not) ## [Nationwide Employer of Record 2 min read | January 13, 2016 Expanding Your Recruiting Firm’s Reach Read More](https://blog.innovativeemployeesolutions.com/ies-blog-nb-24/blog/employer-best-practice/expanding-your-recruiting-firms-reach) ## [Business 9 min read | July 12, 2018 How to Seamlessly Incorporate Contingent Workers into Your Finance Function  Read More](https://blog.innovativeemployeesolutions.com/ies-blog-nb-24/blog/business/seamlessly-incorporate-contingent-workers-finance-function) ## Subscribe to email updates Additional content around the benefits of subscribing to this blog feed. - [Innovative Employee Solutions Blog](https://blog.innovativeemployeesolutions.com) © 2014-2026 Innovative Employee Solutions. 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