Latest / HR Spot / Episode #68 - What Happens if your Key Employee Quits Tomorrow?

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Episode #68 - What Happens if your Key Employee Quits Tomorrow? · HR Spot

• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Hello everyone, it's Linda Michaels, and welcome back to HR Spot.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: And we have the one and only, Gary Nye.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: There's only one.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: But we have a special guest.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, who is it?
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: It is Tony.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: This guy.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: This guy, Tony.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, Tony's heart of our business development team.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: And we thought that this topic would be a really great conversation, not only just from Gary and I's perspective, but also our business development perspective.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: And we all know that what we're going to talk about can affect your customers, your revenue, your operations, and really your entire business.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: So what are we talking about, Gary?
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome, Tony.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_02: But we're going to talk about what happens if your key employee quits tomorrow.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: So a little bit of succession planning.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, guys.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm really excited to be here, and you know, definitely not just an HR issue.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: So really excited to talk to you guys today.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the question we're going to put on the table today.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: What happens if your key employee quits tomorrow?
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Not six months from now, not after you've had time to prepare, but tomorrow.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: The person who knows everything, the person everyone calls when there's a problem, the person who has a relationship with your biggest customers or vendors, they walk into your office and make or send you an email and say, I've decided to resign.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now what?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think this is something that most business owners immediately think, oh, you know, we'll figure it out.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: We can make it happen, which is true.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: You'll figure it out one way or the other.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: Not making a decision or picking the wrong person is is part of the figuring it out, but it doesn't always work out that way, Linda.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, unfortunately not.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: The timing is never good, right?
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: And what's the cost gonna be when they have to kind of go into panic mode and figure it out?
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about that.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: Let's talk about it.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: So first part we're gonna cover is who is your key employee?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start there because when we say key employee, I think most people automatically picture like the CEO, CFO, VP of operations, or maybe another executive, but that's not necessarily what we're gonna talk about.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's that one key person that has the knowledge and the relationships that if they leave, that what are you gonna do?
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes the most critical person in an organization doesn't have an executive title.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's not always the CEO or CEO or the founder or whatever it is.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: It could be the office manager who's been there for 15 years and has all the inside knowledge, could be your payroll person, it could be the person managing your largest client.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: It could be the operations employee who knows how every process works, where all the proverbial bodies are hidden, and you know, all the all the things that need to be figured out.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, what do you think, Tony?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, and from the sales side, it could be the salesperson who has relationships with your biggest accounts.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that gets really scary.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Let's say someone manages 30 to 40 percent of your customer relationships.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: Those those customers may think your relationship is with the company, you know, with the company itself, but in reality, those relationships a lot of times are with an individual.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: So when that person leaves, you're not necessarily just losing an employee, you could be putting revenue at risk.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we don't like that.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: No, you definitely don't, that's for sure.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that's an important distinction, right?
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: So your your key employee isn't necessarily your highest paid employee, your key employee is someone whose sudden departure would cause it a significant disruption to the business.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so here's a simple question for business owners who are listening today.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: If someone on your team resigned today, and your immediate reaction would be, oh no, who is that person?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's probably where you need to start.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I would actually go a little bit farther on that.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: If your immediate reaction is, oh my gosh, we can't lose them, that's a business risk.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: That's more than just someone resigning.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: Because no organization should be completely dependent on one or even two individuals.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and so let's go into the next part.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, the only one person knows problem, right?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: So this is something we see all the time working with small and mid-sized businesses.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Only one person knows how to do something, and everybody knows it.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: We have to ask Susan, or only Mike knows how that works, or maybe Jennifer has that spreadsheet, or John knows the password.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Or don't worry, Tony knows that customer.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it sounds harmless until Tony isn't there anymore.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and that that's a big problem.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it's the problem is that organizations often confuse someone's value with organizational dependency.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: You absolutely want valuable employees and you want people to know things.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_02: What you don't want is a business that can't operate without one particular person.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: Those are two really different things.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and sometimes the employee doesn't even realize how much institutional knowledge they're carrying around.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: They've been there for years, they've developed the shortcuts, they know the history, they remember why certain decisions were made, they know which customer needs a little extra love, and none of it's written down.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's just in their head.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and sales is the perfect example.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like, imagine your top salesperson leaves tomorrow.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, where are the notes from that customer conversation?
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Where is each contract up for when is each contract up for renewal?
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like, who's the actual decision maker within the organization?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: What objections has the customer had?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: All sorts of things to think about that a lot of times you miss.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's that who, what, where, when, why, how kind of HR concept.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um so, and that's why it isn't just succession planning, it's knowledge transfer.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: So then let's go into the next part.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: The first 24 hours after a key employee resigns, let's make this super real.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Gary walks into my office tomorrow and says, Linda, I'm leaving.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, Gary, you're not allowed to do that.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: Well, hey, wait a minute.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's not fair.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, let's get that on the record for sure.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: Good to know.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Good to know.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: But let's say it happens.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: I would be crushed actually.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, come to Gary left or said I'm leaving.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, what should I as a business owner do first, right?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think that's the natural reaction is to panic.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like, holy crap, now what?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: Well, the first thing is to not panic, not to panic publicly, at least.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: Your team is gonna watch how leadership acts and responds to this.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: If leadership looks terrified and acts terrified, employees will immediately start wondering, oh god, what's happening?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_02: What's going on?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: Is the company okay?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: Who's gonna follow Gary?
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: Who else is leaving?
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I think a natural response is oh shoot, I maybe I should look.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_02: Should I be looking?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: Because they're gonna wonder what happens.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: And if if Gary's leaving, not leaving, if Gary's leaving, why and maybe I should look.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: So leadership needs to respond calmly and deliberately, put message out and reassure everybody.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so from the HR side, here's some immediate practical things.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: You need to understand when is the employee's last day, what are they currently responsible for, what deadlines are coming up, what systems do they access, who are their key internal and external stakeholders, what knowledge needs to be transferred, and who could temporarily assume their responsibilities.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: I would add customers immediately to that list.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: If this person owns important customer relationships, decide who is taking those relationships over.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: Don't let your customer learn that their main contact left because an email bounced back or they couldn't get a response.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like that customer experience is so, so important.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and we've seen it even on our own team where we try to communicate quickly, and sometimes the customer still finds out before we can tell them.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: Leadership really needs to control that transition.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: You want the customer hearing Tony's moving on, and we'd like to introduce you to Sarah, who will be working with you going forward, not wait, Tony doesn't work there anymore.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Those are very, very different customer experiences.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the same thing applies internally, right?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: Communication matters.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: Communication is key.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: You don't need to tell employees every detail about the departure, you know, the whys and the what's and and the how, but you do need to tell them enough that they understand what happens next, because that's going to be on everybody's mind.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And the bigger picture question: why did they leave?
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now we get into the HR question.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Why did this key employee leave?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because replacing them is only part of the issue.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely, right.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: It anybody can be replaced.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: We know that.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but sometimes people leave for reasons you can't control and you don't have to understand, really.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: A spouse gets a new job offer and they're going to relocate.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: Someone, maybe they retire, they just decide they're done.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, they changed careers, they had a sudden idea that they wanted to go do something else.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_02: They receive an opportunity that you simply can't compete with.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's you know, that's a big one.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: It sometimes people aren't looking, but they get reached out to, and it's an offer that they can't refuse, right?
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: So sometimes a Twartra is telling you something.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and maybe they're burned out, maybe they're underpaid, maybe they don't see a future with the company, maybe they have a bad manager.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: We all know people leave managers and not companies, right?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe they've been doing the work of three people for five years, and you should not be doing that either.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, maybe they've been asking for help and nobody listens, and that's why exit interviews are so valuable.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Not because you're trying to talk someone out leaving, but you're trying to learn from it.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I I look for patterns like one salesperson leaving is one thing, but three high-performing salespeople leaving in 18 months.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Now I'd definitely be asking some questions at that point.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: Is it compensation, leadership, is it territory or commission structure?
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Is it the support they're receiving or you know, expectations?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: Something is definitely happening at that point.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and that's where leaders need to resist the temptation to explain every departure away, right?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like all this different stuff.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: They got a better offer.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: Why were they willing to entertain that offer?
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: What was so compelling that they decided to go, and what was not working that made it so compelling?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: That's the harder question, or those are the harder questions.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: So, what does it really cost to lose a key employee?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Our CPA loves this kind of information, right?
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about the cost because I think employers underestimate this area.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: They think, okay, we have to recruit someone, but recruiting is just one piece.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, especially if that person generates revenue.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like let's say you lose a strong salesperson, you're potentially losing active opportunities, you're losing momentum, you're losing relationships, you're losing months of pipeline development.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Then you hire someone new, and that person may need three, six, or even nine months to really understand the company, the products, the customers, the ins and outs of everything.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just a lot of lost productivity for sure.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and there's another cost that's harder to calculate.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: That's it's not necessarily numbers based, but what happens to everybody else?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody else has feelings and ideas, and someone has to absorb that work.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_02: So now your best people are doing their jobs plus pieces of someone else's job.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_02: They start working longer hours, they have way more stress, and that's when mistakes happen.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: And if you're not careful, losing one key employee can really impact and contribute to losing another, and maybe another after that.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that's something business owners really need to hear.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: One resignation can create a domino effect.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: If the employee leaves, their work gets divided among three other people, those employees become overwhelmed, nobody gets hired quick enough.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Three months later, another employee resigns, and leadership says, Why is everyone leaving?
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's hard.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and it just starts with the first departure.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so then what's next?
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's the bus factor.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: There's a concept sometimes called the bus factor, and really what it's essentially it's asking is how many people can suddenly become unavailable before a project or an organization would be in serious deep trouble.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's a little dramatic, but it's also a useful tool and a useful exercise for leadership to think about.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I prefer asking what happens if this person wins the lottery tomorrow.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's a little more optimistic.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: I like that.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: They went 200 million, call you from Hawaii and say, peace out, right?
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not coming in Monday.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Congratulations.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now what?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's so funny because that's the HR perspective of let's not say the person gets hit by a bus tomorrow.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's let's see if they if they win the lottery, then what happens, right?
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: But either way, right?
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: If you get hit by a bus or win the lottery, if the answer is we would have no idea how to do their job, well, think about it.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's a real problem.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Business owners listening um can do some very simple exercises.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Look at your org chart, circle the people where you know would have the most significant business disruption if they disappeared tomorrow.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: These are your high-risk positions.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: Then ask yourself who knows what they know, who could step in, what's documented, how long would it take us to recover?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: If the answers are nobody, nobody, nothing in months, oh my lord, you have work to do.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think that's that's kind of a key one just uh to chime in on that.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: Is you can always recover somewhat, right?
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: But what's the impact on the time?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like we talked about, everybody's picking up extra work.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: And is it gonna be, you know, your business, is it gonna be three, six, nine months before you get back up to that same level, that same speed that you're operating at?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: I'm guessing it's not.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna take a while.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so let's talk about building a backup before you need one.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do we fix it?
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: Because we're not suggesting employers have a replacement sitting around for every employee.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, that's unrealistic.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: No, but you should have organizational redundancy around critical responsibilities.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: Cross-training, you probably hear about it a lot, and it's important, but it's one piece.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_02: Documentation is another.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: Making sure that someone has processes written down and accessible so when they leave, other people have it.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe it's for them to sometimes just coach people a little bit.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: You know, develop those future leaders is a way to prepare without preparing at the same time.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: So for most critical positions, I would like to see a uh document and job description, written processes for critical responsibilities, key contacts documented, passwords and systems appropriately managed by the company, cross-training for essential functions, and at least one person who has enough exposure that can step in temporarily.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: And for sales, I would add one more.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like the company should own the customer relationship.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like your salesperson should absolutely have great relationships.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's part of being good at sales, obviously.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: But other people in the organization should know these customers too.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like leadership should have relationships with major accounts, you know, customer information should be in the CRM, communication should be documented.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: No customer relationship should exist exclusively on someone's personal phone.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a big one.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because if your salesperson leaves and takes all of that relationship knowledge with them, you're screwed.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: So let's get on to the next one.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: Is succession planning isn't just replacement planning.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: It's actually planning for maybe it's a promotion that person moves up, right?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not just uh a replacement.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I want to make one distinction because this is where succession planning sometimes gets uh misunderstood.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: Succession planning isn't well, Linda leaves, so Gary just gets Linda's job.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's replacement planning.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: Real succession planning asks some questions.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: What capabilities will this organization need in the future?
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_02: Who was the potential, who has the potential to develop these capabilities?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: What experience do they need?
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: What's their background?
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: And what do we need to start doing today, today to prepare them?
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's the big one.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why succession planning should happen long before someone announces they're leaving.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: One of the biggest mistakes that we see is waiting until they need a successor before they start developing one.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: And by then it's just too late.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it also sends a powerful message to employees when you're developing them.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: You're essentially saying, we see potential in you, we want you here, we see a future for you.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: And that's a retention strategy too, 100%.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: So people are much more likely to stay when they can see what's next.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: So now we're gonna talk about the owner, maybe the biggest risk.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, great, what?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'm gonna turn this around.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: So what if the key employee isn't an employee?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: What if the owner that's one of the biggest risks of all, especially in small businesses?
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we work with owners who approve everything, every hiring decision, every termination, every customer issue, every expense, every important decision.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: And they say, my employees can't make decisions without me.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't that sound familiar, Gary?
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Did we do an episode on that?
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: And if if every road leads back to that owner or that person that controls everything because they're the boss, you haven't built an organization.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: You've really built dependency.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: What happened?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: What happens if that owner wins the lottery, gets hit by a bus tomorrow, or takes another offer?
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so here's the test.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Could you take a 30-day vacation with limited access to your phone?
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: Ooh, you're gonna make some business owners very uncomfortable with that question.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Good, I love that.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: So could you?
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: And if the answer is absolutely not, then ask yourself why.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: What decisions still depend entirely on you?
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: What knowledge only exists in your head?
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: What relationships only you maintain?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: Who are you developing to take on greater responsibility?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because someday you may want to sell the business, you may want to retire, you may want to work less, or something unexpected could happen.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: But the goal shouldn't be to build a company that doesn't require you to personally hold everything together.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I want you to stop and think about this for a second.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_02: You need a vacation, you need time away, you can't be there seven days a week.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_02: So you need to put your balance in there too.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_02: But what if, like really, what if you are gone for three weeks?
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: What's gonna happen to your company?
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: Is it gonna fall apart?
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_02: Are they gonna be reaching out to you on your vacation?
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: Are you really even gonna have a vacation?
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: Or who's gonna step up and do they know where everything is?
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about five questions that.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: We want to ask this upcoming week.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: Let's leave with you know something practical.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Here are five questions.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: I encourage every business owner and listener to ask this week.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, who are the three people we could least afford to lose tomorrow?
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: Think about it.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: Number two, what knowledge do those people have that nobody else does?
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: Number three, which customer, vendor, or business relationships depend primarily on those individuals.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: And number four, who could temporarily step in each critical role?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: Not necessarily permanently, but who could keep the business functioning?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: Number five.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: What can we start documenting?
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: Cross-training or developing right now.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_02: Not tomorrow, right now.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: So we're less vulnerable six months from today.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: Think about it.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: And don't just answer those questions mentally.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Write the answers down because once you see your gaps on paper, you'll know exactly where you need to start.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, in closing, the goal of this conversation isn't to make business owners paranoid that their best employees are going to quit tomorrow.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's the opposite.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: We want you to build a stronger organization.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: Great employees should be incredibly valuable, but the business shouldn't be completely dependent on any one person.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_02: So think about it.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like there is that one person in your organization.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: If they left, you'd kind of be stuck.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: Eventually, everyone leaves a role.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's rare that someone's going to stay in a role or in a company for 40, 50 years anymore.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_02: They retire, they get promoted, they move, they decide they just want to pursue another opportunity, or it happens.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes people get poached.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes just people get worn out.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: And if you're doing succession planning correctly, and that's the key, right?
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: Not just, oh, Billy Bob can take that role, but if you're doing it correctly, some of your best people may leave their current roles because they're moving into bigger roles just inside your organization.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: And that's not a bad thing.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good thing, right?
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: They're moving up, but you still have to plan.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: It is kind of incredible how important Billy Bob is, you know, when you think about it.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: But um for the sales side, you know, the key the sales and customer side of things, preparation creates continuity.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like your customers shouldn't feel disruption every time your organization changes.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: The stronger your processes and relationships are across the organization, the less valuable the business becomes.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: So here's vulnerable.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, vulnerable.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: Vulnerable.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: Vulnerable.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: I can't read.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: Here's uh the question we want to leave you with today.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: If your key employee quits tomorrow, would you have a bad day or would you have a business crisis?
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: If it's the second one, now is the time to do something about it.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: So Tony is our special guest.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining Gary and me today.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thanks for having me.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_02: This is a lot of fun.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we may have a third co-host now.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: We might even do some karaoke.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: We'll have to see how the ratings are, Tony.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: No pressure, no pressure.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Before we commit.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: So thanks everybody for joining us on another uh episode of HR Spot.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we believe that good HR just uh is a isn't about solving today's employee problems, it's about helping you build a stronger business for tomorrow.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: So if this episode made you think of someone, don't ignore it, share it with somebody, reach out to us.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: Gary's still waiting for that question that comes in.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: One question, just waiting.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: So Gary at Azhr Hub, Linda at Az H R Hub, and now we have Tony at Az H R Hub.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: So document what people know, and you can have them start doing it and not in a bad way, and not about hey, if you leave tomorrow, but just hey, if you're gonna take a vacation, if you get sick, hey, we need to make sure we know these processes.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_02: You know, document those things and develop your people.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_02: We've talked about this so many times in the last podcast.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_02: Develop your people.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's super important.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_02: It gives them value and it makes them want to stay.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Build a business that's ready for whatever comes next.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_02: And we'll see you next time.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I can't wait to hear your questions, but we'll see you and hear you next time on the HR spot.