There is a sad and preventable affliction that seems to affect almost every service-based business (and not just the small ones): denial.
Specifically, it is inevitable that every employee is going to leave, and you probably won’t keep your employees until they retire. Yet, I’ve seen business owners and leadership teams put their companies into a precarious position, where a a critical function can only be carried out by one person. Usually, the story begins with what appears to be a stroke of luck. I’ll lay out a hypothetical example here.
Let’s say you run a construction business. You happen to land the perfect office manager; let’s call her Jodi. Jodi has twenty years of construction experience. She knows the business inside and out. Customers love her and your subcontractors and vendors all know her face. Jodi spearheaded the effort to install software to make things efficient. Jodi handles the accounting, pays the bills, runs payroll and makes sure invoices get paid promptly. Jodi has also brought in business; she’s well-connected in the local community, people trust her, and she knows her stuff. Jodi also quietly handles 1,000 other things behind the scenes that you don’t even know about.
So it came as a devastating blow when the text message came: “Can you talk real quick?” You soon confirmed what your gut knew instantly: Jodi is moving on. I’ve run into the same scenario a handful of times in real businesses. Sometimes, Jodi left a month ago and now no one can figure out how to get anything done. Sometimes, unicorn employees like Jodi turn out to have ulterior or dishonest motives. Sometimes, they leave town, get sick, or become injured. Other times, they just burn out and just decide they want to do something else for a living.
If you are in a position where your business could not easily replace a key person, the first thing to do is face reality. Here are three common forms of denial that I’ve seen business owners indulge when they get lucky (or unlucky) enough to have a unicorn employee fall into their laps.
Denial #1: “They’ll Never Leave”
Yes, they will. Sorry.
Ask yourself: if your key person were to quit abruptly tomorrow, what would be your biggest challenge? In what capacity would you have the hardest time replacing the individual? What jobs would you have the easiest time unloading? Is the relationship healthy or adversarial? Are there any concerns about trust or integrity? How long would it take you to find a replacement, and what salary would you have to pay in today’s market? Who on the current team would be most able to fill in if you needed to quickly shift responsibilities? Do you have a written down contingency plan, ready to execute, in the event that your key person departs your company sooner than expected?
Denial #2: “As The Boss, I Always Have The Upper Hand”
No one ever admits aloud to believing such nonsense, but I’ve learned never to underestimate the stubbornness of a fool determined to be right. There’s one key difference between successful and unsuccessful business owners: humility. Are you willing to admit when you are not holding all of the cards? People know when they have leverage, and bluffing doesn’t usually work. (Those most skilled in the art of bluffing recognize when and when not to bluff.) In reality, employees have a lot of power. They see what happens on the front lines, they have access to vital and sensitive information. Begin by recognizing that while your employees have to comply, they don’t have to cooperate.
Denial #3: “You Just Can’t Get Good Help These Days”
The third and most unfortunate type of denial is resignation or giving up. Small business owners resign themselves to the notion that their companies will always stay small. Blaming the talent pool or the market is frankly a cop-out. If your company isn’t attracting the right people, the first place to look is the mirror. If you believe that you’re doing everything right but still not having any luck finding good people… well, news flash. You’re not doing everything right. Accept responsibility for the way you have chosen to manage your business and the situation you now have as a result. It’s much more empowering to say “I screwed up” than to say “they did this to me.”
Righting The Ship
Once you’ve accepted that too many critical functions depend on one individual, the process for solidifying the foundation requires an honest conversation. I wish I could provide you with a silver bullet, but the real answer generally requires a long and slow process with many tweaks in different areas. I generally recommend starting by having regular one-on-one conversations with key staff. The hard part is creating a space for honest dialogue, which generally depends on trust.
Here’s the real question: if an employee were planning to leave in six months, what would better serve their self-interest: to tell you now, or to wait until they have a new job lined up?
Most employees are trained to keep their cards close to the vest. If you tell people that you want open and honest feedback, do you mean it? Or will you shoot the messenger as soon as you hear something you don’t like? Actions speak louder than words.
When people abandon the game of posturing and jockeying for power, miraculous things can occur in a business. New ideas spring up and doors open. The power dynamic of business has shifted over the years, especially in today’s globally-connected world. The talent pool is larger than ever, but the people also have more options than they ever had before. When people see a future for themselves at your company, they will figure out the solution and even do the heavy lifting for you. All that’s required to get started is the willingness to hear negative feedback and take corrective action.
If you own a growing business and want to explore working with us, shoot me an email at dave@dave-baldwin.com.
