Don’t go! Surging business sales make staff retention a must

In this Friday, Aug. 17, 2018, photo, Jackie Johnson, left, and John Ahlberg work at Waident Technology Solutions in Glen Ellyn, Ill. Ahlberg, whose technology support and management company has made four acquisitions in recent years, has been able to retain about a third of the staffers who joined his firm, Chicago-based Waident. "With each person, we sit down and talk to them, and ask, 'What are you doing now, and what skills do you have?'" Ahlberg says. "But most of the conversation revolves around, 'What are your hopes and dreams. What do you want to be doing?'" (AP Photo/Annie Rice) In this Friday, Aug. 17, 2018, photo, Jackie Johnson, left, and John Ahlberg work at Waident Technology Solutions in Glen Ellyn, Ill. Ahlberg, whose technology support and management company has made four acquisitions in recent years, has been able to retain about a third of the staffers who joined his firm, Chicago-based Waident. "With each person, we sit down and talk to them, and ask, 'What are you doing now, and what skills do you have?'" Ahlberg says. "But most of the conversation revolves around, 'What are your hopes and dreams. What do you want to be doing?'" (AP Photo/Annie Rice)

By Associated Press September 9, 2018 5 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – Offers of training and stock in their new employer weren’t enough to keep four out of his five staffers when Dennis Chow sold his information technology firm in 2016.

Chow and the buyers learned one of the hard lessons of a business sale – despite their best efforts, some employees will leave. People departed from both companies when SCIS Security acquired Chow’s Houston-based Xtec Systems, most of them workers who didn’t like their new assignments.

“We lost maybe 25 percent of the overall workforce,” Chow says.

As the number of small business sales keeps rising, staff retention is a priority – especially since low unemployment makes it easy for many workers to find new jobs. Transactions tallied by online marketplace BizBuySell.com show more than 2,700 small businesses changed hands during the second quarter, the most since the count began in 2007. The trend is being driven in large part by retiring baby boomer owners.

One big problem can be a culture clash – staffers whose company is sold may be uncomfortable with their new bosses and how the business is now being run. A new owner may be more rigid about schedules or more of a micromanager. Staffers who worked with just a handful of people before might find themselves with dozens of co-workers, and miss the old camaraderie.