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As business owners you all have entreprenuerial spirit. You try to improve your lot in life by assessing and adapting. From your perspective you need to use the tools at hand that best get the job done. Some of these tools are people. Like other tools they don't all last forever, but that does not mean that you should not use them. Unlike other tools, people have an effect on the other people around them. If it is a negative effect on other people that is obviously not good.
Some employees have the same type of entreprenuerial spirit that you have. They use that to drive them to make themselves more valuable as an employee, so that they can earn better wages. Some are not that type, or just trade time for money. Those that have that spirit will always try to do the best for their current employer, but will put their own best long term interest first. While they are with you, you get 100% out of them. But, if they reach a dead end or see greater opportunity to improve their lot in life they will go for it. Simply put, the same thing that drives these employees to jump ship is the same thing that drives them to give you 100%.
If the guy is of that type and does not sour the rest of the troops, let him help your business while he is there.
I find it funny when business owners equate loyalty as the employees acceptance of a lot in life that only allows them to grow as the company sees fit. That is totally contradictory to how the owner views his own life. You have to ask yourself how much an employee is motivated to achive for your company if they are unmotivated to achive for themselves. Would you have a salesperson negotiate a sale for you, if they knuckled under to accept low pay from you?
Understand that ambitious people do not tolerate stagnation. That does not mean that you should not hire them. Hire them and take what they will give you while they are willing to give it. Maybe you can keep them growing within your company and hold on to them for a long time.
I think it is narrow to adopt a blind rule that once they are gone they can't come back. It only serves a big ego and not the best interest of your business. It may happen that no one that worked for you should come back, but if it is the right person take him.
Let's see a partial resume ...
In the old days...
There was my first job as an evening janitor... worked there twice.
The Mobil station ... twice,
One nursery ... twice.
Concrete form company ... several times.
Hide & fur company ... twice.
In recent times,...
A very well respected landscape company... twice
A very well respected land planning company ... three times and there right now.
Did any of these people bank on me remaining forever? I hope not. They know that I give 100% while I am there. They know that with each move I expanded my knowledge, skills, and abilities and brought that back with me.
Many landscapers complain that they train their competition. If you hire back good people that you trained with added experience and understanding by having worked for someone else, that in itself is not a bad thing. Let the guy that just lost him do the complaining.
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