Humans are creatures of habits. It takes three months to get into a new habit and a lifetime to get out of it. It boils down to the old saying: “if it isn’t broken, then don’t fix it”. The problem is if you carry this behaviour in your business, being too comfortable is the best recipe for failure.
Everything is great!
I was chatting with the CEO of a large IT company. He was extremely complimentary about his HR management skills. Currently, his turnover is low; he’s got many long term employees, his business is running smoothly. Undoubtedly, he must be doing something right! However, when I’ve asked him what if his top two performers left? Not because they are unhappy but either because they moved out of the city or decided to work somewhere else. He said ”this will never happen”. Really? I don’t think so.
The reality is, this could happen. Without a plan in place, two vacant positions would cause major disruptions to the business. Plus, if the hiring process is stale and is the responsibility of the CEO, how much of his time will he spend to find a replacement instead of paying attention to the growth of the business?
You need to be prepared
Don’t rest on your laurels. Always be prepared. Contingency plans will save your business. In this particular situation, this plan would be a succession plan. Not any kind. It must be kept well alive. This means to make sure that throughout the year you enable talent mobility, build bench strengths and depth beyond senior roles and minimize the risks towards potential skills gap.
You employees’ engagement needs to be sustained
In the event your top performers do stay with you, have you thought that they too can become comfortable? Then what? In spite of a low turnover, your productivity will get a hit because your employees will derail. What will you do about that? How will you engage your employees? What is it you will do to light up their passion and enthusiasm?
Hire an HR expert to prepare your business for the future
Are you still thinking you’re doing great with your people? Maybe you are. The reality is you can do even better! Think about this: how much time on average you spend on people’s issues? Imagine if you can spend that time on growing your business.
Not only will your people will continue to work for you but even if they leave you will be prepared for that.
