Ep 110: What to do when a key team member leaves

Subtitle:

Today we break down the practical and emotional sides of handling when someone with a leadership role leaves your business. We discuss feelings, redundancies, restructuring, communication with clients, and more on this week’s episode.

 

Summary:

On today’s episode, we discuss all aspects of what to do when a key team member leaves your business. While having someone leave is challenging, it’s crucial to have a positive mindset and look for opportunities. There are always opportunities. To optimize, improve, and level up. It’s also important to have a record of all processes, tasks, and systems each employee uses so that it’s easier for someone stepping into the role. 

 

Top 3 Curtain Pulls in this episode: 

 

• Feel your emotions but don’t allow them to influence your perception of the situation. When someone you’ve worked with for a long time hands in their notice, it can feel devastating. In order to make sound decisions, you need to allow yourself to feel the rejection, but don’t allow it to define how you see the situation. Try to look for the opportunities. “See things for what they are, and nothing more. it's not good, it's not bad, it just is.”

• Create redundancies and keep a record of all systems and processes. In order to make the transition process smoother, it’s important to build in redundancies such as recording all systems, processes, and tasks that each person does. This can help the new person who is stepping into the role be more independent and confident in their work. “Document every process of everything they do, or what we do as a team, so that it lives somewhere on a Google Drive or wherever. That way anyone coming in knows exactly what processes we use, what the steps are, and who's involved.”

• Look for opportunities. The biggest challenges often hold the best opportunities. Use this as a chance to discover opportunities you wouldn’t have found otherwise. A positive mindset and open mind are your friends. “It's a great opportunity to go, could I reshape what I have to refill that role?”

 

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About The Guys: 

Bob Hutchins: Founder of BuzzPlant, a digital agency that he ran from from 2000 -2017. He is also the author of 3 books. More on Bob: 

• Bob on LinkedIn
• twitter.com/BobHutchins
• instagram.com/bwhutchins
• Bob on Facebook

Brad Ayres: Founder of Anthem Republic, an award-winning ad agency. Brad’s knowledge has led some of the biggest brands in the world. Originally from Detroit, Brad is an OG in the ad agency world and has the wisdom and scars to prove it. Currently that knowledge is being applied to his boutique agency. More on Brad:

• Brad on LinkedIn
• Anthem Republic
• twitter.com/bradayres
• instagram.com/therealbradayres
• facebook.com/Bradayres

Ken Ott: Co-Founder and Chief Growth Rebel of Metacake, an Ecommerce Growth Team for some of the world’s most influential brands with a mission to Grow Brands That Matter. Ken is also an author, speaker, and was nominated for an Emmy for his acting on the Metacake Youtube Channel (not really). More on Ken: 

• Ken on LinkedIn
• Metacake - An Ecommerce Growth Team
• Growth Rebel TV
• twitter.com/iamKenOtt
• instagram.com/iamKenOtt
• facebook.com/iamKenOtt

 

Show Notes:

[5:43] Ken introduces the topic for this week’s episode. “When you have a team, losing somebody and then moving on can be really challenging… it can be like it can feel like a giant gut blow… what do you do when you lose a really critical team member?... there's a mental side that you have to get over, which is rejection.”

[10:34] Bob dives into a cold but important truth about business, “Any work environment is not family. And it's very dysfunctional to try to believe it is. And if you are getting your needs met, for family and deep relationships from your work environment, that's not a healthy place to be.”

[15:37] Ken talks about dealing with the feelings of being rejected.

[17:13] Bob discusses the importance of processing your feelings but also being able to give your employees freedom and equip them.

[18:29] Brad talks about how his self esteem takes a hit when someone leaves.

[21:04] Ken discusses the practical side of dealing with the loss of an important employee and the value of being able to, “see things for what they are, and nothing more. it's not good, it's not bad, it just is.”

[24:38] Bob adds to Ken’s discussion and says, “practice being an observer of these things, and not not not trapping them.”

[27:20] Brad talks about the opportunity to rethink roles and restructure your business when someone leaves. “It's a great opportunity to go, could I reshape what I have to refill that role?”

[30:45] Ken starts a discussion about redundancies and their role in helping the transition be smooth.

[31:48] Bob says that he has his employees, “Document every process of everything they do, or what we do as a team, so that it lives somewhere on a Google Drive or wherever. That way anyone coming in knows exactly what processes we use, what the steps are, and who's involved.”

[37:41] Ken imparts some wisdom about dealing with the practical side of someone leaving. “Always think who, not how.”

[41:59] Brad begins a discussion about how to communicate what’s happening to your clients and the importance of timing and word choice.

[49:03] Bob talks about how, “in the music business, and I think in other industries, they have what's called the key man clause.” and discusses the importance of not allowing that to happen in agencies.

[50:00] Ken closes this week’s episode by saying, “it sounds cold, but it's about the business being healthy. The business needs to be healthy and for the business to be healthy, you need to remove as many of those vulnerabilities and diversify things.”