Star employees stand out as people with strong work ethics and likely wear many hats. When one of your top performers hands in their resignation, it can knock the breath out of you. Small-business owners often grow close to their longtime staff. You are losing someone you likely value as a colleague, friend and top talent.

If handled incorrectly, a single resignation can become a tsunami of employee churn. Fortunately, some solid next steps can help you retain other workers and minimize the impact.

1. Schedule a Meeting

Although the number varies monthly, the United States government estimates that 5.1 million people left their jobs in March 2025. The majority were voluntary separations. An employee resigning may already have another position lined up or be burned out. Before you react to the resignation, meet face-to-face and find out why they tendered it.

Rather than trying to change the person’s mind, use the opportunity to gather details. Someone moving closer to family or finding a higher-paying position will likely stand by their decision. On the other hand, a negative management style, lower pay, difficult co-workers or feeling overwhelmed are issues you can address, and you may be able to convince them to stay.

2. Inform Management

Gather leadership and inform them of the resignation and the information you gleaned from the meeting. If there is a way to retain the employee and everyone wishes to, come up with a plan to work through any concerns the person has, offer them higher pay or find other creative solutions.

Once you have some ideas, schedule a second meeting to see if you can keep your star from leaving. Dig deeper than surface answers. If they say they want better pay, ask what amount they desire. If they mention work/life balance, get details on how much PTO they want. What does their ideal setup look like to them? Do they want to work from home two days a week? Ask follow-up questions so you have the tools to make an offer to retain them.

Review company policies before making any offers for retention. Also, consider other workers in similar roles and whether a higher offer for one is fair. If the person brings a lot of value, experience or dedication, they may deserve more pay and perks than someone just starting in the industry.

3. Offer an Education Stipend

Around half of employees are looking for a new job at any given time. One reason often cited is a lack of opportunities to learn new skills or climb the corporate ladder. Offering to pay for college courses, conferences or workshops may push them to remain at your company. Align the stipend with the person’s ultimate career goals, which can look different for each individual.

Your star employee may be considering a new job because they feel stagnant in their current position. People who are naturally high achievers need to see progress in their professional lives. Take the time to create a learning and development plan that suits them by asking where they see themselves in the next few years and what skills they would most like to master.

4. Review Benefits

When a high-performing worker is considering leaving, you may need to discuss more than a simple pay increase. Salary alone is rarely the reason someone seeks a new job. They may need something with more flexibility because of family obligations or desire more perks.

During one of your meetings, discuss what benefits they most desire. Some might need more health coverage or support for mental health. Others may juggle care of children and aging family members and desire a remote work or hybrid solution. Additional paid time off (PTO) could help them decide whether to stay or go.

5. Map the Role

It costs around $5,000 to hire a new employee, so investing in a current one makes more sense and prevents client service gaps. Look at what roles the worker currently completes, daily tasks, processes used, and if any of their work would be better delegated to another department or position. Someone who has been with you for years may feel overwhelmed by extra responsibilities that keep them from performing their best.

Jobs are changing rapidly with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning advances. Consider analyzing the role and mapping it out as an opportunity to update it for the modern age. Also, determine if AI can automate and take over any of their work to free the employee for more creative tasks. Task creep happens slowly as the company adds new processes and can discourage even the best workers.

Mapping the role also highlights any work the person does that is not part of their job description. Taking some of those things off their plate may be the impetus to retain them. Before your star employee feels they must leave, take the opportunity to ask about inefficient processes or things they would love to do if they had more time.

6. Offer a Retention Bonus

Team members sometimes consider leaving because they get a one-time signing bonus for taking a job at a new company. During your conversations, find out if they are receiving money for taking a new role and offer a retention bonus tied to specific milestones they must reach within a time frame. By matching the extra money, you remove one of the incentives for leaving.

While most top performers will be forthright and fair, the potential exists for someone to take the bonus and still exit. Make sure you tie it to something concrete. Offer the bonus with the agreement that they stay through the end of a big project or a time frame, such as another year.

7. Promote or Shift to a New Team

If the star employee mentions a toxic work environment, personality conflicts may drive their desire to leave. It could work to offer them a promotion that puts them under different leadership.

Another option is to shift them to a new team so they no longer work with the same people. A group of like-minded high performers might be the thing that pushes them to stay.

Create a Positive From a Negative

Although the possibility of losing your star may feel like a punch in the gut, embrace the process of working through the hiccup together. Ideally, workers would stay with you for their entire careers, building on institutional knowledge and helping your company scale up. Changing the trajectory to someone going out the door is challenging, but it is worth the effort to keep a dedicated, hard worker on staff. Move quickly to ensure they know you want them to remain.

Sadly, people sometimes must leave. Do everything you can to convince them to stay, but understand that employees sometimes leave anyway. Knowing how to part on good terms, learn from mistakes, and improve job descriptions and processes will create an environment where most of your staff want to stay and new people feel they have found a work home. Convincing your top performer they are valued and have job security allows you to focus on driving growth instead of replacing knowledge.