I walked away from a ten-year relationship with a supplier this week because they made me feel bad.  I've been staying in their hotel on a regular basis since 2000 and have held a conference there every year for five years.  It's a truly wonderful property.  We love staying there.  They do a nice job on our events.

But, negotiating the event contract is torture each year.  The sales people don't return my calls.  They're not flexible.  They make it difficult to pay in advance.  (Yes, you read that right.  I often like to pay in advance to manage year-end expenses.)  Anyway, the whole experience is generally painful.

This year, they sent me a contract that included, with no prior notice, a doubling of our event minimum, a 75% increase in the deposit, and some extra room charges that we'd never had before.  I called the sales person up and asked if we'd done something to make her angry.  We got into a verbal fight and I said good bye.  She took us for granted and lost us.

Who are you taking for granted?  The new employee that's accepted a job, but not yet started?  The new employee that seems to have settled in after implementing a great 100-day action plan?  The employee that's been doing what you'd wanted for five years?  In the long run, all employees are volunteers.  Just like the hotel in my story can lock us in for one year with a contract, you can lock your employees in over the short term.  In the long run, if you take them for granted, some of them will walk away.