Why Solution Engineers QUIT!

Losing a great Solution Engineer (SE) can be very costly for any sales organisation.

As well as the obvious 'opportunity cost' of lost deals, there's the confidence blow for your remaining SEs and the loss of intellectual property that may never be replaced.

When a top SE resigns, you only get one chance to recover the situation. And, in my experience, even if you successfully retain them the clock is ticking until your prized SE eventually departs. The seed has been planted.

Prevention is much better than cure when it comes to SE resignations. So how can you spot when a Solution Engineer is about to blow a fuse? As with any blown fuse, it's all about the AMPs -- the Aggregate of Marginal Perceptions.

The Aggregate of Marginal Perceptions (AMPs)

You would think from reading the plethora of blogs on this subject that "people don't leave organisations, they leave managers." But ... (spoiler alert) ... this isn't always true. In my 25 years of experience in Solution Engineering, in most cases it's a combination of causes and not one single reason. We need to stop looking for the "smoking gun" and assess the contributing factors.

Whenever one of my SEs resign, I always endeavour to speak to them quickly about their decision. Not to dissuade them from leaving, but to listen to their decision process. As a closing question, I'll ask them to summarise their reasons by visualising a pie chart and considering what percentages they'd give for each reason? Is it a 'push' or 'pull' decision? (I.e. Is the decision driven by current factors of their role, or is it the attraction of the future role?)

Factors Undermining Solution Engineering (FUSE)

In my experience, there are eight factors that combine to blow the fuse of your Solution Engineers. Each of your SEs is unique and will have a different tolerance to each category. It's the role of SE leaders to understand their staff's tolerances and attitudes to these factors.

• Culture - Your organisational culture will play a big part in why SEs leave. This could be because they prefer a more structured corporate culture to a less structured, entrepreneurial environment (or vice versa). It could also be due to how Solution Engineering is perceived by the organisation as a whole. Is it revered or just tolerated as a necessary cost? Do sales staff treat SEs as equals, or subordinate resources? Is your organisation inclusive and diverse?
• Rewards - Do successful SEs feel recognised and rewarded? Is their success fairly built into their compensation, or is it a team plan where many are rewarded through the success of a few? Are your SEs invited to annual "Quota Club" events. or are these the exclusive preserve of sales people?
• Success - The best SEs are accustomed to constant success. If they're assigned to a tough patch they could start to exhibit symptoms of 'success starvation'. This is often a dangerous and terminal condition for top performers. Consider rotation of best and worst industries, products, and/or geographies to keep your whole team fully engaged.
• Progression - Top talent demands rapid progression. Does your grading system allow for this, or are the jumps between grades too wide and infrequent? In short, is it easier for SEs to progress by leaving or staying? Do you offer the educational and mentoring opportunities to support your SEs growth aspirations?
• Leadership - Do your managers and leaders fully understand the individual motivations of their staff? Are they always coaching with the right balance of challenge and support preferred by each individual? Have you created or amplified a vision worth fighting for?
• Workload - Solution Engineering workload is all about peaks and troughs. But if you don't get the balance right then you risk burning out your best SEs. And when SEs leave it makes life harder for those who remain. This can create a vicious circle that's difficult to escape from. Also, is the workload fairly distributed in the perception of your team?
• Flexibility - Many SEs will rate working flexibility just as highly as pay and compensation. So it's a great benefit to exploit. Staff with a busy family life will welcome the ability to work from home and flex their hours around their domestic demands. Do you trust your best employees to work flexibly? Do you have an unhealthy presentee-focused culture?
• Motivation - Are your staff sufficiently motivated to stay? Do they have the capabilities to do the job you are asking them to do? Are you supporting their growth sufficiently? Are your SEs in the right job, or could another area of the organisation benefit from their skills and experience? Last, but not least, do you have an insight into the mental health of your staff? (If you have an Employee Assistance Programme [EAP], is your team aware of this and how to seek help?)

As the AMP model suggests, these are all perceptions. Whether or not they are true or real, it's the perception that's important. They're dynamic too; constantly growing and shrinking in magnitude in the minds of your SEs. So it's no good taking an annual poll; you need to constantly stay close to the mood of your team.

Advice to Leaving SEs

If you're an SE contemplating resignation, I would always recommend standing back and doing an objective review of your situation. What's your long term goal and will the move support this better than where you are now? Have you done a SWOT analysis comparing your current position with the future one? Can you speak to anyone doing a similar role your future organisation to ask them about the eight AMPs?

Finally, I recommend a visualisation exercise and imagine that you have already resigned. Spend a day imagining that you've already made your decision with no turning back. How do you feel about it? Is it a good feeling, or are their immediate regrets? What does this tell you about your decision?

Never cut your nose off to spite your face. In other words, never use a resignation as a call for help, or to somehow punish your manager. Your resignation might be a permanent solution to a temporary problem!

If you're suffering from any mental health issues, seek help. Many larger organisations have an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). It's usually anonymous and staffed with trained counsellors. If in doubt, use it!

Advice to SE Leaders

As I mentioned earlier, prevention is much better (and less expensive) than cure. Keep a scorecard of the eight AMPs and be aware of your SEs' attitudes to these.

Be authentic and transparent. If you have serious issues with your commission plans for example, don't ignore it and make it a taboo subject. Acknowledge negative work factors and be open and honest about them. Can you influence these negative factors? Can you use other positive factors to compensate?

Track your professional network in other organisations and be aware of the positive and negative factors at these companies too. The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the valley. It's worth reminding your SEs that all organisations have AMP issues.

When one of your SEs does resign, decide immediately if you want to keep them and act quickly. By dropping other activities to focus on SE retention, you create an important impression for your team.

In your first call just listen to what your SE wants to tell you. Come back quickly with a counter-offer if you decide to, but don't just address the financial component. It might not be the most important issue that has blown the fuse.

Often when you retain staff they will leave within a year or so. This should not discourage you from doing it. By retaining your top talent for even a short period, it buys time for you to plan contingency and replacement on your terms. It's often tactical, but necessary.

Finally ...

Your Solution Engineers are a precious resource. It takes a long time to train and coach top SEs and it's very expensive to recruit a replacement. The worst reason to lose SEs is through lack of awareness of their state of mind, so check-in with your team often.

Talk regularly to your team about the eight AMPs and improve the areas where you have control or influence. By doing this you can reduce the Factors Undermining Solution Engineering (FUSE) and focus on winning those lucrative deals.

What do YOU think? Have you left an organisation recently? Are you suffering from SE attrition? And have I missed any major factors? I'd love to hear from you.

I enjoy blogging about Customer Experience, Digital Marketing and, occasionally, Solution Engineering.

Related articles:

• 4th Generation Solution Engineering
• Who Wants To Be A Solution Engineer?

You can view my other blog posts here. And why not follow me on Twitter: @CxDaryn