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Two Weeks Notice

After five years of experience with an employee, receiving a 2-week notice is something I still don't get used to—even after decades of owning a Home Remodeling Company.

It's disappointing to lose someone you have invested time and energy into training. You've worked alongside them, depended on them and watched them become an important part of your company. So when they tell you they're leaving, it's natural to take it personally.

You start asking yourself: What did I do wrong? Could I have done something differently? Why can't I keep good people? Does this mean my company isn't headed in the right direction?

But over the years, I've learned that the reason someone gives for leaving may not tell the whole story. People leave companies for many different reasons—some having little to do with the owner, the company or the work itself.

Maybe it's time to take another look at how we, as business owners, respond to these situations and be a little less hard on ourselves. My job isn't to keep every employee forever. My job is to build a company that can continue to grow when people come and go.

That doesn't mean losing a good employee isn't disappointing. It is. But disappointment and hope can exist at the same time.

Every time someone leaves, there is also an opportunity: someone new may bring fresh energy and ideas, another employee may step forward and discover leadership abilities they didn't know they had, a position may evolve, or a company may become stronger because it is forced to adapt.

After more than four decades in the remodeling business, I've learned that adversity doesn't always mean something has gone wrong—sometimes it simply means something is changing. And sometimes, the good that comes from that change is something we couldn't see when we first received the two week notice.

So if you're a remodeling contractor or business owner who has recently lost a good employee, don't be too hard on yourself. Feel the disappointment. Learn what you can from it. Then look forward. Because our responsibility as owners isn't to make sure nobody ever leaves. It's to build something strong enough to keep moving forward when they do.

And who knows? The next chapter may turn out better than the one we thought we were losing.

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