Your Best Employee Shouldn't Be Your Operating System

Every company has them.

The person who knows everything.

They know which customers need follow-up.

They know where the files are.

They remember which projects are waiting for approval.

They know which spreadsheet is the right spreadsheet.

They know who to call when something goes wrong.

And when someone asks:

“Where are we at with this?”

They're usually the person who knows the answer.

That employee is incredibly valuable.

But there's also a problem.

They may have become part of your operating system.

The Key-Person Problem

This often happens naturally as companies grow.

Someone has been with the company for years and develops their own way of keeping everything organized.

They create spreadsheets.

They keep notes.

They organize their inbox.

They remember deadlines.

They know which customer prefers a phone call instead of an email.

Eventually, the company begins depending on information stored inside that person's head.

Everything works.

Until that person isn't available.

They take vacation.

They get sick.

They change positions.

They leave the company.

Suddenly, everyone realizes how much of the operation depended on what one person knew.

Try the Two-Week Test

Here's a simple operational test.

Pick one important person in your company and imagine they unexpectedly couldn't work for the next two weeks.

Could someone else determine:

• What work is currently open?

• What is overdue?

• What needs follow-up?

• What is waiting on a customer?

• What deadlines are approaching?

• Where important documents are stored?

• What has already been communicated?

• What needs to happen next?

If the answer is:

“We'd have to call them.”

You may have a key-person dependency.

Documentation Doesn't Mean Creating a Giant Manual

When people hear SOP, they sometimes picture hundreds of pages of corporate documentation.

That's not what most companies need.

A useful SOP should make it easier for another person to perform the work.

It should answer questions like:

What needs to happen?

When does it happen?

Where does it happen?

Who is responsible?

What happens next?

What happens when something goes wrong?

Sometimes that's a document.

Sometimes it's a checklist.

Sometimes it's built directly into your project management system.

And sometimes the workflow itself can guide the employee through the process.

The System Should Carry Some of the Knowledge

Documentation is only one part of the solution.

Good systems can also remove the need for people to remember things.

Instead of remembering to follow up Friday, the follow-up appears Friday.

Instead of remembering which step comes next, the workflow moves the item to the next stage.

Instead of asking whether a project is complete, the status is visible.

Instead of manually telling management something needs attention, the system flags it.

Your employees should use their knowledge to make decisions.

They shouldn't have to use their memory to hold the company together.

Make Your Best Employees Easier to Replace — Temporarily

That might sound strange.

The goal isn't to make employees less valuable.

It's actually the opposite.

When your best people aren't spending their time remembering every detail, searching for information, answering status questions, and explaining the same process repeatedly, they can spend more time doing the work that actually requires their experience.

And when they take a vacation?

The company keeps moving.