A Note From Larry: How to Handle Employee Turnover

This is a difficult time for every business owner. Not only do you have concerns about continuing sales, but you probably have concerns about the supply chain, additional scrutiny from your bank, inflation, and interest rates rising. And not only that but employee issues as well. Not only whether they want to even come back into the office to work, but whether they’re interested in continuing to work at all.

And then what happens? Suddenly you get to work in the morning and a key employee either calls you or comes into your office and says, “Hey, guess what? I’ve taken a job with another company.” What’s your reaction? Are you angry at their disloyalty for leaving you after you’ve treated them so well over the years? Are you excited about the opportunity that’s presenting itself to them? Are you sad that you’re losing an employee that you trusted and worked with? Are you tempted to counter offer so that you can keep them and have them continue to work for you?

Well, don’t. Don’t counteroffer. They agonized over the decision to leave your company just as you’re agonizing over the fact that they’re leaving. They’ve gone through the emotional change that they’ve had to make to say, “Look, I need to try this new opportunity.” Maybe it’s not you. Maybe it’s just financial. Maybe it’s an exciting opportunity in a different industry. Maybe it’s greater opportunities for them and the decisions that they’re going to be able to make that you weren’t able to allow them to make.

Now it’s time for you to consider what you’re going to do now. My suggestion is to reconsider the role that you had that person playing. Take a look at what they were doing for you and consider whether you want to re-engineer that position completely. Here’s your opportunity to really take a look at the world out there and find somebody who has maybe skills that you need, that this person didn’t have. Maybe you can take that job and divide it up into a couple of different opportunities. And rather than getting rid of an employee who is no longer relevant to you, find a new employee who is more relevant and will allow you to make that scalability step that takes you to that next level.

Every change that happens in your company is an opportunity to succeed and to do better than you’ve done before. Take the opportunity now, you don’t have any choice. Make the decision that drives you forward and helps you become a better company and a better boss.