1. Institutional knowledge{{<sidenote>}}I.e. all the things about your business that only they know, such as the way your systems interact with each-other, side-effects certain actions may have, etc.{{</sidenote>}}
2. A practical understanding of the systems and processes in place{{<sidenote>}}The ability to rapidly solve issues as they appear, while keeping the big picture in mind, so as not to break anything.{{</sidenote>}}.
3. The mood and culture in the company that facilitates teamwork and collaboration{{<sidenote>}}Seeing people leave makes their friends sad, and that decreases their trust and emotional investment in the workplace{{</sidenote>}}.
If the business doesn't understand just how valuable these contributions are,
and doesn't compensate employees for their real contributions... churn starts.
Employees start realizing that their presence isn't appreciated, and that their
contributions will be valued more highly elsewhere.
In my experience, it's rare that an employee quits because of a specific event
at work. In most cases, it's the culture, attitude and mindset enforced top-down
by the business owner/ CEO/ management.
And fundamentally, this is an incentives problem. People work better when they
see that their efforts are being rewarded.
> _"Why should I work hard, performing duties and tasks that would easily warrant
> $40+/h,<br />
> when I'm only being paid $12/h?"_
So then when employees are leaving, or being fired for bringing up issues{{<sidenote>}}Yes, there is a juicy story there, and the company in question isn't in my resumé because of that.{{</sidenote>}}, this not only creates an exodus (because employees
start questioning the value and stability of their employment), but also strips
the businses of established, knowledgable, skilled talent.
Which means new employees must be trained and brought up to speed. This is a
significant expense to the business, often far outweighing the cost of
compromising with existing employees, and giving them better working conditions.
If you're a micro-small business owner, you don't have the leverage, the power
to compensate talent that bigger businesses have. You're not in a position to
ask for a laundry list of skills that would put your applicants in the top 10%.
As an applicant{{<sidenote>}}I am actively searching for a job as of this writing.{{</sidenote>}}, when I see a
laundry list of very in-demand and valued skills for a position, such
assistant with some technical skills can often handle the entire back-end of your business on their own (fulfillment and deliverables excluded), and as your business grows, they'll be the perfect person to step into the COO position.{{</sidenote>}}