What You'll Discover In This Episode:
If you haven’t faced the sudden loss of a team member yet (and I mean yet), consider yourself extremely lucky.
One of the top challenges my clients bring to me is determining how to move forward after the sudden loss of a team member. And that loss could be due to just about any reason: moving across country, health issues, too much stress, better paying job, early retirement, switching careers, unanticipated firing, or even death.
The fact is, you are going to lose a team member without fair warning at some point in time so be prepared to replace them. Otherwise, you’ll be totally caught off guard and every area of your business will be negatively impacted as you struggle to perform their duties and fill that position (as if you didn’t already have enough on your plate!).
And there’s another important but overlooked reason to always be ready to hire - the power you’ll gain. Here’s what I mean...
Have you ever had a team member consistently underperform? Or call the shots as to when they work? Or decide when they take time off without consulting you? Or constantly show up late? Or take advantage of you in some other way?
The truth is, when you own a small business but are unprepared to replace every single one of your team members, you put up with subpar performance, excessive absence, character flaws, and other issues because you’re too worried they might quit, leaving you high and dry, understaffed, and unable to deliver the same level of service to your clients.
Not being ready to hire at a moment’s notice leaves you powerless and negatively affects your revenue, your clients’ experience, and your own schedule. That’s because when there’s a hole to fill, regardless of whether that hole was created by someone quitting, you firing them, or otherwise, it is always the business owner who picks up the slack. You, your business, and clients deserve more!
If you don’t take time to fully prepare for the inevitable loss of employees, you’ll be forced to make time for it down the line, possibly at the most inconvenient of times. Empower yourself and set your business up for success by doing the work now.
In this episode of Productivity Straight Talk, I dive into ways you can take back the power in your business owner-employee relationship and I provide actions you can take so that you’ll always be ready to hire.
