This statement has to be one of my favourites. I have had people say this to me at least a dozen times over the course of my business life. And it is not something I can agree with. An attitude like this actually reflects a less profitable business than it could be, real suffering for the business owner and a lack of true leadership.

 

Business leaders who adopt the attitude that anyone is replaceable make less profit than their competitors or what they are potentially capable of earning. If they think they can simply hire someone else with greater skills or someone with more prestige or pedigree, then they are fools.

 

When a company has a truly great employee, that employee caries value that simply cannot be replaced. They know the business, and have extensive organisational knowledge including product, systems, controls, and process. They hold important client relationships that have been built over many years that would take years to duplicate. And great employees have a camaraderie and influence with their co-workers, which when lost, has an impact on the company’s values and culture.

The cost of recruiting, training and impact on the business is at minimum $150k. How many employees have you lost in the past two years…1, 2, 5 or more? Let’s put it this way, how much money did you lose over the past two years $150k, $300k 750k... wow! If you don’t care about your staff, I bet you do care about the money.

Build a real business with a leader’s vision and values within it and prosper in more ways than just the bottom line.