Mitigate the impact of key employee departures in a family businesses

Employee turnover in a family business generally happens less than in larger public businesses — as the executive team is often made up of family members who aren’t going anywhere. Even individual contributors with no managerial aspirations tend to stay around longer due to the family-like atmosphere. 

But turnover does happen in family businesses, even at the executive level. And when it does, it can cause a mini-crisis. When a long-time employee leaves the family business, it can hit hard — especially if they leave for a competitor. Aside from the obvious business implications, the employee leaving can feel almost like a betrayal, especially if the employee was well-liked and respected. It can lower morale and if you’re not careful, damage the culture as well. Employees leave for many reasons, and some are out of a business owner’s control — higher salaries the company can’t match, more room for advancement, etc. But in many cases, the reasons for a long-time employee leaving are completely preventable, with actions that happen long before the employee even considers looking around for greener pastures. 

It starts with a commitment to employee engagement.