SmallBusinessNewz

Sometimes no matter how well you treat your employees, they will still leave you. They may go for something with higher pay that you just can't match. They may move to a different state. They might quit to go back to school. They may just decide they want to do something else with their life. They may retire. They may become ill or pass away. It's not a pleasant thought, but a fact of life.

Being Prepared

It is in the best interest of any business owner to be prepared to lose key employees. Have some kind of a back-up plan. I've talked about this briefly in the past. I think the best measure of preparation you can take is to cross train employees in as many areas of your business as possible.

Grooming a replacement

Maybe you don't like to rank your employees by importance, and that's a good thing, because they should all be treated with the same amount of respect, but you still might know in the back of your mind that there are certain ones that you rely on more than others. These are the employees that will be harder to replace if you do lose them.

If this is the case, then start with their most important tasks, and make sure that they are not the only ones that can perform these tasks efficiently. As I said, the more cross training you can manage throughout your business the better, but unfortunately this consumes time, so a little prioritization won't hurt.

Choose another employee who is loyal and you think you can rely on in a pinch (hopefully you have more than one), and get them cross trained first. Employees may not always be interested in doing different jobs, which is why you choose one you can rely on. Learning more skills involved with running a company can actually give an employee a better sense of job security, because let's face it - the more areas they are efficient in, the more valuable they are.

Hiring a replacement

Sometimes losing a key employee just happens too fast and you have not had time to prepare, and you don't have a practical replacement on staff. Then you have to hire someone.

I believe in this scenario, the most important thing to look for when going through resumes and applications is the amount of time that each candidate has spent at previous jobs. Of course they will need to have some basic skills required for what you need them to do, but skills can be learned. They can be trained after you hire them, even if you have to do it yourself. If the candidate has stayed at previous jobs for long periods of time, they will be more likely to display loyalty, and efficiency, which are the traits you are really looking to replace in the first place.

Losing key employees is not something any business owner looks forward to, but although it seems like it can be devastating to your business, it doesn't have to be. How have you dealt with losing key employees? Did your business take a big hit?