I try my best not to foster exceptionally capable employees in the company as they are more likely to become an independent entrepreneurs than ordinary employees.
However, with a little effort, it’s possible to maintain a good relationship with these employees and even continue it after they leave the company. By reading this article to the end, you can get some tips on how to work with exceptionally capable employees and how to maintain a good relationship with them even after they leave.
When you gain the ability to be an independent entrepreneur, you start to feel suffocated because the container you need to stay in feels too small for you
The main reason why the turnover rate is high for a high performers is that they start to feel their ability being restricted by the company:
- More than half of the sales revenue goes to the company
- They cannot make free choices and start to disagree with the direction of the company
- They want to eliminate time constraints
- They want to focus on their own strengths
- They want to become a manager rather than work on the front lines
Of course, it is only with the support of the company that they can achieve success, but it’s easy to lose sight of this and forget. In the end, their focus is on these components instead.
This leads to questioning whether there is a reason to continue staying in the company when you think you are capable enough of doing things on your own.
If the reason for belonging is clear, they won’t quit, but…
Even if we have these kinds of concerns mentioned above, if the reason for belonging to that organization is clear to them, they won’t quit. For example, if they feel:
- More secure being in this company
- Contributing to making this company or the CEO of this company successful
- Being able to work on big projects because of being in this company
- Having a place to belong and do what they want to do
If they feel satisfied with their reason for being a part of the organization, they won’t quit.
However, maintaining this system is incredibly difficult. In most cases, people in the management space need to communicate closely with high achieving employees to help them feel their reasons for being part of the organization.
If done incorrectly, you would feel forced to always please them, get caught up with their reaction and management may feel that the company’s performance will suffer if a successful employee leaves.
This can lead to a situation where management:
- Cannot control the employee and cannot oppose their opinions
- Is forced to accept what the employee wants or else face them leaving the company.
We need to prepare structure that can be aligned to embrace the ambitious people in relationship
Unless they are employees with strong loyalty and obligation, it is difficult and almost impossible to stop, bury, eradicate their ambitions, such as:
- Wanting to build their own success on their own as the ultimate goal
- Wanting to start their own company
Since life is only once, they want to take the challenge when they have the ability which is totally understandable. This challenge itself is a wonderful thing, so I do feel there is also an emotion of wanting to support it.
However, as a side effect, we cannot ignore the fact that valuable personnel may be gone and may become competitors of our own company.
That is why it is ideal to provide a system that supports employees’ new challenges, a half step ahead, before we are forced to make the ultimate decision of “support or obstruct.
Let’s create a new path called “Production Model”
When a super capable employee emerges, I think it’s a good idea to switch to the production model.
For example, we can take a certain percentage of the sales margin in exchange of the volume of customers we generate. If possible, it’s desirable to present them the production system from the beginning and have them sign a contract based on its terms.
Specifically speaking, we can offer a contract that states that the employee must become independent within three years of joining the company and create a dedicated website to help them become independent in the future. If they can’t attract customers at first, we can back them up by paying their salaries.
Furthermore, we can develop a plan for how they can become independent within three years and provide half the necessary funding to support them.
Additionally, we can negotiate for a 1-2% royalty on profits when their new business starts making money, or require them to use our company’s original products for their use by contract. By doing so, even if super capable employees emerge one after another, we can send them off with gratitude.
With the right system in place, the departure of successful employees can even be turned into a positive.
