This morning I was woken up at 5:30 AM by my smoke alarm. It was not the normal, continuous sound of the alarm. Instead, it sounded one warning and then went silent. Being such a deep sleeper, I didn’t immediately recognize it as my smoke alarm and I wasn’t even sure it had happened at first, but 20 minutes later, I heard it again.
I got out of bed and went downstairs (in the dark) to get my stepladder to remove the device. I didn’t want to deal with it right away, so I removed the device from the ceiling, put it out in the hallway, and returned the stepladder to its storage spot. Just as I was settling back into bed, I heard it start to chirp again, this time sounding the “low battery” warning. I removed the battery completely and tried to go back to bed.
Unfortunately, at this point all of the smoke alarms in the house started beeping. They are all tied together on the same network (much like your interconnected employees), so as soon as the system detected one of them had gone offline, it initiated a test of all the other smoke detectors in the house. At this point I was debating whether I should google “Home Depot” to find out when they opened because I didn’t think I was going to be able to go back to sleep with all of the beeping, but luckily the beeping stopped after the system ran through its tests and I fell back asleep for about 2 more hours.
So is that it? Do I even need to replace the device? It’s been installed since the house was built and the rest of the system is working just fine. I’m not even hearing any chirping or beeping anymore.
You might be asking yourself, “Why is she telling this story?” It’s because the same thing could happen in your business. You might notice an employee sounding an alarm about being overwhelmed or underpaid. You could ignore it, but you will hear it again. And the problem could remove itself from your system (find another job). Everything could seem fine - the chirping stops and the system keeps running after some adjustments. But it’s not fine.
Just like my smoke alarm system, you’re now under-resourced and your business will be in danger until you fix it. Even if your business was running efficiently before your employee sounded the alarm and left, it doesn’t mean that it will continue running that way. You must replace your resources and provide them the support they need to function properly. And, just like my smoke alarm, you need to pay attention and listen for any warnings that might let you know they’re overwhelmed.
Make sure your systems are running properly and efficiently. Keeping your operations fresh (like smoke alarm batteries) will ensure that you can handle emergencies and other events that happen unexpectedly. And don’t assume that if an employee leaves and your business keeps running that everything is fine. Your system is going to be overloaded and you won’t feel it until it’s too late.
It’s not an easy swap, to replace a smoke alarm or an employee, however, if your operations are standardized and documented, it will be relatively painless. It will take some time for your new employee to get up to speed, and they won’t exactly fit into the team like your previous employee, just like a new smoke alarm may have a different base that needs to be installed. Or the manufacturer could have updated the pigtail that connects the hard-wired electrical system to the device, which adds time and complexity to replacing the old device, but with a little patience and by following the established procedure, everything should eventually return to normal.
I’m heading to Home Depot to buy another smoke alarm device. How are you keeping your operations running smoothly? If you’re responding to alarms instead of resting easy, reach out to Beck Insights.
