Don't Go! Surging Business Sales Make Staff Retention A Must ​​​​​​​

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.

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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.

Bosses should focus on the quality of employees’ work life, says Mike Astringer, owner of Human Capital Consultants, a human resources provider. Money, whether it’s in the form or a raise or a bonus, may not work in the long run.