I was speaking to a client of mine recently and they were telling me how they would never have employees again. They had been there, done that, and just couldn’t put up with the hassle. After recent events I can relate somewhat – it can be stressful – people have their own agendas, their own needs and wants and, if you are lucky, they coincide with that of your business, for a period of time at least.

However, I refuse to become fully cynical because, despite it all and the hurt and the betrayal, I believe fundamentally people come and work with you with good intentions. My philosophy is to be as open and honest as I can with my team and hopefully, they in turn, will return the favour.

I know it’s difficult for employees because they can feel uneasy speaking to a manager about their unhappiness, or future plans but I try to be approachable and create an environment where problems can be aired and discussed. If someone has ambitions beyond my organisation its better to know this ahead of time and this can be planned for, but I accept that this is not the norm. For example, some of my employees’ reviews in the past have revealed that they would like to travel or move location in the future – this may worry some employers, but I take it as a positive, that employees are honest, and we can work with the information.

The real problems come for a business when employees don’t communicate their feelings with you and just stop performing, particularly if that person holds a senior role within, or is integral to, the organisation.

Enormous effort and faith are put in a person to do these roles, and, although rare, when these people aren’t doing their job as they used to, the effects can be widespread and can have a knock-on effect on the morale and workload of the rest of the team. For example, our Client Manager role requires them to represent our firm to the most important people – our clients – and they do this well. But, when they are under-performing, the rest of the team have to rally together behind the scenes and work doubly hard to make sure that the clients never know and there is no drop in their service level.

If this person leaves, to the clients, it may look like an enormous loss to the firm, for the rest of the team it is actually a relief that they are no longer firefighting for them.

Over the years, and on balance, despite staff leaving in whom I have invested thousands for their education and training, I believe employing people is the only way to make a business truly successful. Believe me, there have been times when I have wondered if it is all worth it, but my life has been enriched because of this, despite the occasional setbacks and stress.

For that reason, I refuse to be cynical. I will continue to invest in people, because without them we cannot deliver the levels of customer service we strive to. I believe in my Team and their ability to deliver 5 star accounting services.