Managing Through Unexpected Departures “Mind the Gap” –Aug 3rd, 2016
In Britain, “Mind the Gap” is a warning to rail passengers to take caution while crossing the gap between the train door and the station platform. Makes sense to me, why put oneself in harm’s way moving between Mother Earth and a very heavy, moving object. On the same lines, I would like you to take caution with regard to managing through gaps in your leadership team created by unexpected departures, transfers, promotions, or dismissals. So I say, “mind that gap!”
As leaders and managers, we have all experience the “unexpected departure”. People are people, and they don’t always give their employer the playbook to their personal lives. People retire suddenly, people change jobs, people have unexpected illnesses, and so on. All these unexpected events create immediate gaps in operational performance of the business.
Just as challenging to a business is delaying a critical activity due to poor succession planning. “We cannot promote Pat because we do not have a backup to fill the critical vacancy”. “We can’t dismiss Taylor because who would support the customer on their critical program if we did”. And on and on we go, not doing the right thing because we don’t have the bench strength.
Sometimes, it is not as simple as poor succession planning. We simply may not have the budget to keep qualified replacements sitting in the wings. Or, those that are ready decide that their promotion is taking too long and they leave the company to make it happen elsewhere. It might just be a difficult skill to find, or a challenging location to recruit for. We all have many reasons, but none that justifies doing nothing.
In my 20 plus years of management experience, I have seen all these scenarios play-out. In some cases, taking months to years to find the ideal replacement. This talent gap or lack of action can be damaging to the business, preventing something essential from happening in the company.
All this said, it is not a hopeless situation. There are qualified contractors/consultants out there serving many different industries and functional expertise. They may advertise as “Interim” solutions or consulting services for specific functions. Many are available to fill-in at a moments notice, and “mind the gap” so to speak.
Not all contractors/consultants are created equal, so do your homework. Whatever you do, don’t be afraid to do something. Doing nothing can create immediate, long lasting problems for your business. For example, a gap in functional or business leadership can let the company stray from their business strategy. Gaps in critical functional areas create strain and unnecessary pressure on the remaining organization, piling work on the employees that already have the lion’s share of responsibility. And most problematic, letting your customer down because something critical to the business is not getting done fast enough, or at all.
If you contract with the right interim management consultant, they will carry on the work while helping the company recruit and hire full-time replacements. So the next time you are traveling in London and you hear “mind the gap”, look down, left and right, and then think about potential gaps in your business that can be resolved by hiring an interim management consultant.
