“When I’m gone, when I’m gone… You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone…” – Anna Kendrick

You can have a terrific business, establish a wonderful environment for employees to flourish and grow and feel respected, offer terrific pay and benefits, and be the kind of “World’s Best Boss” that would put Michael Scott to shame, and there can still come a time that an employee might leave your family.

As a Sicilian, I don’t use the word “family” lightly, (I also might have just re-watched Godfather I and II on a Kaleidescape system I'm reviewing; you never take sides against the family, Freddo, never!) for with a small business, that’s really the kind of relationship that many of us develop in our companies. At my shop, we typically have between 5-6 total staff including myself, so we all work very closely with one another, and quickly develop bonds. I spend 40-plus hours a week with my guys, often under tense, “in the trenches” conditions where we rely on and trust the work and skill of the person next to you. (Or above or below you in the case of attic or crawlspace work...) These relationships definitely move past employer/employee after several years of constant contact.  

Like many of you, our company also invests a lot of time and energy into our employees with both formal and on-the-job training. Hiring a new guy is always a difficult, stressful process, so we strive to keep good employees for a long time.

But despite the best intentions, things happen and people move on. One of our techs, Marc, recently got married and his wife wanted to move to be closer to family. It was clear that commuting from Ohio to Myrtle Beach was not going to work, so my employee of seven years handed in his notice and worked his last day this past Friday.

When you work with someone day in and out, it can become too easy to focus on and see their flaws and foibles. They didn’t do this right. They forgot to write this down. They didn’t check this before leaving the job. They were 12 minutes late again.

But when they are gone, all of the things that they did right become far more apparent and their true value to your firm is much more readily appreciated.

Continue reading how to give a valuable employee the proper send off at Resi Systems...