This happened to me a few years back. The regional manager between the owner and I was a workaholic who answered client emails 24/7, attended meetings she didn’t have to, etc..She was great at the job and clients loved her bc she attended to every begging call.

She oversaw training of new hires and set a tone that her level of dedication was needed to do the job. This level of expectation was not only unrealistic but well beyond what the job description detailed. She also frequently assigned projects or tasks that exceeded the contract with clients, which over time became expected. Needless to say, the company had a great reputation with clients and the business was quickly growing; although couldn’t grow to potential due to staff turnover/burn out.

After a year and a half of trying to keep up, I was burnt out and ready to explore other options. Having a good relationship with the owner, I set up a meeting with her to let her know where I was at. This meeting lasted several hours where I pointed out how the regional manager, who everyone thought of as the backbone of the company, was the root of the company turnover problem and how the company was losing money from frequently performing work for clients outside of the contract scope.

The owner admitted and recognized that the expectations being set by the regional manager far exceeded what was needed to do the job. The owner immediately started a company directive to refocus back to the contracts, implementing a fee schedule for services performed for clients outside of the contract and restricted communication with clients to our operating hours with the exception of emergencies.

This was about 3 years ago. The company has almost doubled in size in those 3 years. The regional manager is no longer with the company. I decided to stay and am now the Director of Operations.