How I saved a project after key staff resigned

What was the impact on the job?

Relatively low, but we make sure that we never send them into a role with that structure. We give them the right level of work, but the thing is; we always make sure the succession plan is on for every single project. We always make sure they follow our documentation standards. Most of these guys are technical people, so if they finish up, someone should be able to finish up from where they left off. That’s what happened in these instances.

The only impact we had from one, there was about a 10-day gap between one person finishing and the next starting. That was a seven-day impact on our project plan, so we had to get people to work a few more hours. I think in the end we brought on another person for a week.

How big an impact did people leaving have on the project they were doing?

We don’t have any risk with people walking out with our intellectual property. I’ve actually had that happen before, they’re so entrenched in doing things a specific way that only they understand what’s happening. I’ve seen it happen so many times in other places as well. You can become increasingly reliant on just a few people.

The other thing we keep in mind is that there are plenty of companies that use contractors, but they don’t think of them as employees. We don’t look at them as people who just come in and leave, I look at them as another employee on a different payment structure. We call them long-term contractors, we try to keep them on and on for a long time. Of the four that had to leave, three of them work for us in our home states. So we don’t look at them as contractors, they’re permanents, right?

Interestingly, we actually tried to convert contractors into permanents. It didn’t really work and some of them left.

So for other businesses in the same situation, what would you recommend?

Always have a succession plan. Contractors, just like permanents, need to have the same structure, templates, etc. So if everyone were to leave, you would be able to handle it. Remember, they’re just employees on a different structure and you have to look it at that way. Make sure you have good succession plans, make sure abilities can be handed over, and you’ll be okay.