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Howdy, Girdleyworld!
In a perfect world, you never need this playbook. In reality, it’s guaranteed to happen sooner or later.
What to do when a key employee leaves
Let’s do it.
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The Playbook: What to do when a key employee leaves
Why this matters
Losing a star player can affect your business in many different ways, including experience, systems knowledge, customer/team rapport, and momentum.
It’s always going to suck.
But how you handle it can make the difference between a bump in the road or a disaster.
Because there’s a silver lining, too: it’s your kick in the butt to clean up systems, develop other staff, and rethink roles for the future.
Here’s what to do.
Transfer and document everything.
Assuming you have two weeks' notice, your immediate job is to get as much information documented as possible.
Make it their #1 priority, over any of their day-to-day stuff.
Capture their processes: how they do their daily tasks, their monthly reporting, their customer notes, even where files are saved. Make sure you have complete contact details for clients and vendors.
Find the lightest-lift way to do this — it could be writing things down, it could be video walkthroughs, it could be meetings (just make sure to record them).
Then, have them put all their account logins and passwords into a company-owned password manager — and double check that no 2FAs will send a code to their personal devices.
(By the way: this is a great time to make sure you have ▶️basic cybersecurity set up for your business.)
Protect the business.
Call a lawyer to make sure you’re fulfilling all employment law obligations.
Remind the departing employee of any NDAs, confidentiality, or non-compete terms, if they’re legal for your business.
If they didn’t sign one when they started, you can ask — but they’re under no obligation to sign on the way out.
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Sort out short-term coverage.
Figure out who will temporarily cover their workload.
Ask the departing employee for advice on who would be a good fit.
Tell the team.
Don’t delay this one—it's better they hear it from you so they know things are under control.
Be clear and calm. Share your plan for covering their work. Open the floor to questions or feedback.
Your most important job is to reassure everyone that the business is stable and no one else’s job is at risk.
(More details on this in my ▶️how to fire playbook.)
Hold an exit interview.
Lots of people have opinions about exit interviews.
Don’t wimp out. This is a huge opportunity to get honest feedback.
Set your feelings aside, and listen.
You might learn something that keeps the next A-player.
Make a last-day plan.
Figure out the logistics: shutting off system access, collecting company property, final payments, benefits policies, etc.
Reflect.
Ask yourself some key questions:
Why did we lose this person?
Do we need to hire for this exact role, or can we restructure it?
Is there someone on the team ready to grow into this position?
Use this as a prompt to revisit your org chart and update your succession plans.
A final note: black boxes
If this departure exposes a “black box” area in your business — where no one but that person knew how to do something — it’s a clear sign that you need to ▶️build some SOPs.
That’s it!
Thanks for reading.
Michael
P.S. Buying a business in the next 12 months? I’m hosting a free lecture on financing, with world-class expert Heather Endresen. May 8th — RSVP now!
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