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24 - When You Lose a Key Team Member
Description
A topic came up during our Anchored Leadership training that is a challenge faced by many small businesses. It’s something every business owner with a team will face sooner or later. What to do when a key member of your team leaves? Regardless of whether that person is going away temporarily, on an extended vacation or maternity leave, or they’ll be gone permanently, they got a new job or moved cities, losing a member of your team that you rely heavily on is a blow that’s difficult to overcome. So I’m going to talk about being proactive.
People are transitional, they follow opportunities, ideals, and family decisions. The days of choosing one job and staying there until retirement are long gone. But just because a phenomenal person indicates they may only be with you for a short while, never shy away from hiring them. Even a short time with a phenomenal person will benefit your business. Instead, get proactive about preparing for inevitable departures. Think ahead. There are choices you can make that set your business up to do well even when someone leaves.
Ask yourself if there is cross-coverage for every team member’s job. If somebody takes care of a vital aspect of your business and nobody else knows how to do it, that is a gap you need to fill. Cross-training is essential and that goes for your role as well. It’s the ability to assess what your business needs and will need in the future, and how best to alleviate client and customer concerns about team member departures that will set you up for client retention and behind-the-scenes success. How do you do that now, when things are going well? I’ll lay out key points to consider so you can think about the future needs of your business today.
Key Moments
02:06 Why you should hire that phenomenal talent even if their time in your business may be short
03:26 All the reasons for cross-training team members
07:49 Why you should encourage relationships between clients and other staff
- There are ways to prepare for client retention when providers leave healthcare jobs
- When you should introduce new hires to your team and clients
- How you deal with team member departures will be closely watched by the rest of the staff
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Contact Kari Lotzien | Be the Anchor:
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Transcript:
Kari Lotzien: [00:00:01] Welcome to Be the Anchor, the podcast. I'm your host, business and leadership coach Kari Lotzien. When the seas of life get stormy, and they always will, it is not up to us to captain anyone else's ship or to try to calm the waters of the ocean. It's up to us to set our own destination for what we really want, and to learn how to navigate those waves of life together while finding that place of security and stability with others. I call this being an anchor.
Kari Lotzien: [00:00:38] Hello my friends. I'm so glad you're here. Today, I want to share a topic that came up during our anchored leadership training, and I recognized pretty quickly that this is a challenge that is faced by many small businesses. It's when a key member of your team leaves. Now, this can come in so many different forms. It may be that someone is going on maternity leave or taking a leave of absence due to illness or to be a caregiver for a family member. Or maybe they're leaving permanently,