The Termination Matrix

SaaS companies are driven by people.  Anytime you hire someone new they are super motivated. Managements job is not to demoralize them.

Since almost every company has competition, I always considered the company like a sports team.  We only win if we outperform other teams.  Which means you need good players, great coaches and from time to time you need to make trades.

Key metrics are voluntary and involuntary turnover crossed with regrettable and un-regrettable.  Companies have turnover.  Partly because people seek career advancement and partly because we make hiring mistakes at least 30%+ of the time.  An organization needs to be optimized.  This is not being mean, it’s just the way teams develop.   In the SaaS industry annual turnover can range from 10-30% depending on the market and how the business is being managed.

Keep track of these four possible exit scenarios for employees as one lens to assess how the team is being optimized.