Tomorrow
at 5
p.m.
your
star
employee
tells
you
she's
quitting.
Which
scenario
describes
your
reaction?
1)
Shell-shocked
and
at a
complete
loss
to
replace
her
Shame
on
you.
Whether
you
lead
a
team
of
two
or a
department
of
two
hundred,
a
key
management
responsibility
is
contingency
planning.
What
will
you
do
if a
key
employee
gets
sick?
Moves
back
home
to
care
for
a
parent?
Gets
hit
by a
bus,
unable
to
work
for
months?
Or,
of
course,
quits.
To
avoid
the
heartburn
and
sleepless
nights:
Open
your
calendar
right
now
and
make
a
monthly
appointment
with
yourself.
Include
anyone
else
who
can
help
you
brainstorm.
Identify
your
top
staffers
and
their
critical
job
responsibilities.
Then,
for
each
responsibility,
identify
at
least
three
ways
you
might
be
able
to
get
that
work
done
if
the
current
employee
weren't
available.
This
process
is
usually
difficult
and
discouraging
at
first,
which
is
why
you
need
to
do
it
monthly.
You'll
find
that
after
two
or
three
months
it's
easier
and
you're
seeing
a
much
broader
set
of
possible
solutions.
2)
Surprised
and
disappointed
yet
confident
that
someone
can
fill
her
shoes
Outstanding.
You've
probably
done
a
good
job
of
hiring
people
with
"broad
shoulders"
who
can
fill
gaps
and
take
on
other
responsibilities
if
someone's
suddenly
out
of
action.
It
sounds
like
you're
clear
on
the
skills
and
capabilities
of
your
people.
And
you've
probably
given
some
thought
to
which
tasks
are
absolute
must-do's
and
which
could
go
by
the
wayside
during
a
transition
period.
The
only
question
to
ask
yourself:
Have
you
consistently
done
everything
you
could
to
explore
her
professional
goals
and
interests
and
help
her
find
the
opportunities
she
wanted
in
your
business?
If
you
have,
and
she
still
wants
something
different,
fair
enough,
right?
No
need
to
beat
yourself
up.
3)
Furious
at
yourself,
because
you've
been
meaning
to
talk
to
her
about
a
bigger
role
This
pattern
is
common
among
small
business
owners.
You're
so
busy
with
urgent
day-to-day
stuff
that
you
ignore
the
care
and
feeding
of
your
people...until
it's
a
crisis.
Then
you
swing
into
action,
throwing
everything
you've
got
on
the
table:
bonuses,
salary
increases,
profit-sharing,
even
a
share
of
the
company's
ownership.
Why
is
this
bad?
First,
your
employee's
decision
to
move
on
didn't
happen
overnight.
They
were
originally
excited
about
your
business
and
looked
forward
to
growing
with
it.
When
nothing
much
materialized,
they
started
mentally
disengaging
-
lowering
their
commitment
to
the
business.
It
wasn't
a
conscious
decision...instead,
think
of
it
as a
shifting
of
gears
that
happened
over
months
or
even
years.
Now,
you're
fixated
on
keeping
them...but
they're
still
one
foot
(or
more)
out
the
door.
Their
gears
don't
shift
back
to
"excited
and
committed"
just
because
you're
throwing
incentives
at
them.
So
while
you
may
lure
them
back
for
awhile,
the
odds
are
good
that
they'll
really
leave
within
a
year
or
so -
this
time
for
sure.
How
can
you
prevent
this
nightmare
scenario?
Reassess
your
own
behavior
and
priorities.
This
issue
developed
because
you
weren't
paying
attention.
Odds
are,
if
you
entice
them
back
into
the
fold
now,
you'll
drift
back
in
to
your
old
habits
of
"I
don't
have
time
to
worry
about
this
right
now"
and
you'll
just
show
your
employee
that
their
decision
to
leave
was
really
the
right
one.
