A key employee quit – now what?
Note: There are businesses continuing to operate and may even be hiring.
I was a guest at a meeting of small business owners recently (yes, social distancing and masks) who were discussing various challenges of growing their respective businesses. One of the agenda topics was staffing, specifically, hiring and retaining good people. No surprise there. These are challenges for every business.
One of the business owners, I’ll call him John, related that a key employee had suddenly and unexpectedly quit. John felt betrayed, as he thought he had been treating employees like family. Putting that aside as best he could, this was a major disruption to his ability to serve customers. The employee was one of three key technicians; in fact, the best of the three.
John then said he had met a technician (call him Ted) whom he considered to be top rated in his craft. Ted, however, had indicated he was interested in having his own business some day. That set off a sensory force in me that sparked an idea (bells or a light bulb, I think). I listened and wondered if John had thought about how he might solve his employee need with someone who might be entrepreneurial like himself.
At a break in the meeting, I went over to John and asked if he had considered how he might approach Ted about coming to work for him? I confirmed that Ted had told John he wanted to eventually have his own business. “Yes,” John replied, he desperately wanted to figure out how he could hire Ted.
When I posed my next question, I would describe John’s expression as one of combined surprise and curiosity. What about offering Ted some way to become part owner in the business? I elaborated . . . think about what that might mean.
Instead of simply replacing a technician, maybe this was a way to bring on someone who could fill the gap of customer technical support, and help John grow his business. There’s an old (attributed) African proverb: to go fast, go alone, to go far, go together. This might be an opportunity John had not considered, but maybe a solution sitting on his doorstep, awaiting a creative implementation.
If you’ve read any of my blogs or (hopefully) my book (thank you), you know I’ve written about the dynamics of sole proprietorship versus partnerships. Some people are more suited to going it alone. Partnerships, however, offer growth potential not typically seen in solo enterprises (see Microsoft, Apple, Ben & Jerry’s, Hewlett-Packard, Facebook, et al).
I’ll have to wait to see what John does with this newly discovered “fork in the road.” Posing the partnership question to solopreneurs, is often met with “partnerships don’t work” or some other form of resistance. I say partnerships work just fine . . . when the partners are aligned on values and responsibilities. Most importantly, partners have to verbally pledge to an unshakeable support of decisions – regardless of the outcome of any individual decision.
Still, you don’t jump at a chance to partner up simply because you like someone and the opportunity arises. It takes some thought, discussion, evaluation, and alignment to make it work. Here are key points to determining a good partnership fit:
- Get aligned on values; not just what they are, but the steadfastness of each.
- Learn each others business and personal strengths and weaknesses.
- Decide on ownership shares; it’s a negotiation that will test your mutual fairness.
- Assign responsibilities; outline a decision-making process, including who makes the final decision when you’re not in lock-step (oh yes, that can happen often).
- Establish the core value of your business (your “why”).
Read more about these precepts here.
Curious about family partnerships? Check out these thoughts.
Finally, if you’re curious as to how you measure up as a sole proprietor versus a partner role, download a fun, easy Entrepreneur Personality Evaluation here
A key employ leaves – Covid related or other reason – get creative. Build within or find as good, even better, talent.
