Running
a business isn’t the easiest of things to do. I took over day to day operations as well as defining long term strategy just over two years ago. From day one, I’ve faced a number of very significant challenges. From developing job descriptions, completely overhauling the IT and phone structures and systems, and letting long term employees go, I’ve held the course despite the blow back. Recently, I was faced with another difficult decision.
We
had the need to restructure our warehouse management team. Skill sets were lagging and in some cases, members of the management team didn’t know how to turn on a computer…let alone get into and use email. With the rapid pace of change in business today, these deficiencies were setting us up for longer term issues. I knew I needed to make a change. As with some of the previous changes, I knew this one was going to be difficult for one of our team members in particular.
The severance
package I gave ended up softening the blow for the Warehouse Manager at the time. From there, I made some appointments. The then Assistant Warehouse Manager moved up to become the Warehouse Manager and a relatively new add to the Warehouse Associate team stepped up into the Assistant Warehouse Manager role. That’s where things got a little bit sticky. One of our long term warehouse employees really didn’t like my decision.
Difficult
decisions become a little bit easier when all of your homework is done on the front end. In this case, that is exactly what I did. When our long time associate approached me steaming about not getting either of the management roles in the warehouse, I was armed with a long list of skill sets, qualifications, and experience the other two brought to the table. I continued to highlight the lack of development by this individual for the last decade. Ultimately, while still very upset, this individual came to realize that when confronted with logic and the company’s future success at heart, the decision I made to not promote him was the right one.
Two months
have passed since I made these changes. I’m happy to report that time has seemingly healed this wound. The once upset associate now sees the benefits and progress the company is making in the warehouse. Many of the conversations and improvements continue to stretch this person’s comprehension however, he is making an effort to learn from what it going on around him. I’m encouraged to see this as one day, it would be great if he was prepared to step up into a management role.
FIRE
is something that I believe certain types of individuals will have more success reaching. Becoming financially independent requires many difficult decisions. Regular sacrifices along with continued development and learning, in my opinion, shortens the time those dedicated to FIRE need to reach their goals. It’s my hope that through this difficult decision and experience that I’ve ultimately positioned someone to become better in their career and financial journey. Time will tell…
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