A study by the Russian School of Management, involving 726 participants across Russia, reveals that 67% of companies rely on key employees to maintain critical business processes. Specifically, 58% of organizations identify multiple essential staff members, while 9% depend on a single individual. Only 29% of respondents reported no such dependency.
Operational risks are significant: 46% of firms note that production or service delivery depends on specific individuals. Other vulnerable areas include internal processes, document management, client relations, and sales. If a key employee is absent for a week, 46% of companies must postpone tasks, while 16% face a complete halt in specific operations.
The impact of losing a key employee is perceived as a major threat. 57% of managers anticipate increased workloads for remaining staff, 46% fear process disruptions, and 43% worry about the loss of institutional knowledge. Financial losses are a concern for 24% of the surveyed organizations.
Over the past year, 78% of companies have already experienced operational difficulties due to the absence of key staff. In 42% of these cases, duties were urgently redistributed among colleagues. While 20% of companies reported no serious consequences from such absences, 9% faced missed deadlines, and 7% experienced significant slowdowns or total operational stops.
