It happens to most small business owners and can derail your strategic growth process. How can you get back on track and potentially thrive from the change?
Keep a good relationship with the exiting employee
Unless something really bad happened, do your best to keep up the relationship. Remember this person will still talk about and potentially recommend your business after they leave. They may want to rejoin your team someday. And it is better for your mental health as well.
Learn from the exit
Should you change anything in the business due to this departure? Consider the exiting employee's feedback and well as input from other staff members. If you are not open to constructive criticism and change you may create a turnover issue.
Recraft the position
Before you rush out and hire, consider what you really want out of this position. Can you change the job to further the growth of the business? Are there different skills or education that make sense? Consider the opportunity modifying this position could have on the growth of your business.
Hire the right person quickly
Now that you have been thrown back into the trenches it is easy to push off the hiring process. Don't do it! You will become stressed and your strategy execution will suffer. Make hiring a priority but do not settle.
Looking for a book on employee selection? I suggest you pick up Patrick Lencioni's book The Ideal Team Player. It an entertaining read about recognizing and cultivating key employee virtues: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28930640-the-ideal-team-player
As always, please reach out if you have questions or if I can help!