They know why month-end runs in that order and which report you never run on a Friday afternoon. They haven't taken more than a week off in years, and everyone is quietly relieved about that.
They are not the problem. They're usually the most loyal person in the building.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ป.
The business rules sit in code nobody reads. The workarounds sit in their head. The fix from that incident three years ago never made it into a document.
๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐โ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ธ
And it doesnโt take much to turn it into a real problem: a resignation, a long illness or a family emergency will do.
Solving this is usually less dramatic than it sounds:
- Turn the rules into automated tests that run every time the system changes, not just a Word document nobody updates.
- Have someone shadow them on the next change, before the next crisis.
- Find the jobs that only happen because they remember to do them, and make the system do them instead.
None of this replaces them. It just means a holiday stops being a risk event.
If you are that person, this isn't a criticism. You're probably the one who would most like a proper holiday.
If your business depends on that one person, happy to talk through how to make your systems less dependent on them.
