Your startup is chugging along, the team gels perfectly, the customer feedback is great. Then it hits. A founder’s worst nightmare: one of your earliest employees, an irreplaceably key team member, quits.
That first resignation hits you hard professionally — and personally. Surely this cannot be the same dedicated marketing director you discussed strategy with yesterday! This can’t be the same head of sales who landed that six-figure account who you had drinks with last night? How can your trusted lieutenants abandon you after everything you’ve shared together?
Once you’ve felt all the emotions, you accept their resignation. But acceptance is not enough; you need to see that employee quitting as a competitive advantage that will actually make your company stronger. And if you’re a fast-growing company, you’ll need turnover if you want to have the right talent for the right stage of your business.
Is succession planning necessary? Should you have spent more time on succession planning for those inevitable departures?