Executives who choose to resign often do so on Friday afternoons so that they have the weekend to relax with the dirty deed having been done. This strategy can still work to the employer’s advantage if the employer wishes to remove the executive immediately from the office and avoid unnecessary disturbance and interruption in the workplace. However employers who want to retain the executive can use the weekend to notify all appropriate personnel involved with the retention effort to prepare a unified front to retain the executive. Resignations do not have to be accepted initially, and deferring the official resignation meeting (and counteroffer) until the employer is better prepared is considered appropriate and puts control back in the employer’s hands. The best time to schedule an initial meeting with the resigning executive is Monday morning to help establish controls over the leakage of false or alarming information throughout the organization, and place the executive in the awkward position of having to face a full work week without clear conclusion. Multiple and personal meetings should be scheduled throughout the week with all relevant personnel as soon as possible to encourage executive retention, with the CEO pressing a counteroffer once the executive’s circumstances, motives and concerns are fully understood.