Every July, a mid-sized company finds out which of its people it cannot do without. The controller takes two weeks and the month-end close slips. The one scheduler on days off means the shop floor runs on guesswork. The top account manager is unreachable and a renewal sits unanswered.
None of this is new. What changes in summer is that the gap becomes visible. The risk was there in February too. It just had no deadline attached.
Find the roles that have no second person
Start with a plain question for each team: if this person were gone for three weeks, starting tomorrow, what would stop?
The answers usually cluster in a few places:
- Finance: payroll, month-end close, bank reconciliations, approvals that only one person can release.
- Operations: production scheduling, purchasing, logistics booking, anyone who holds supplier relationships in their head.
- Manufacturing: the skilled tradesperson who knows why a particular line trips, the quality lead who signs off releases.
- Sales: accounts where the customer talks to one person and nobody else has the history.
- Data and AI: the analyst or engineer who built the reporting or model and never documented it.
Write the list down. Most owners are surprised by how many names are on it, and by how many are people they would never have called "critical" on an org chart.
Separate knowledge risk from authority risk
There are two different problems here, and they need different fixes.
Knowledge risk is when only one person knows how the work gets done. The fix is documentation and cross-training: short written steps, a recorded walkthrough, a second person who has done the task at least once while the owner watches.
Authority risk is when only one person is allowed to act. A purchase order cannot be approved, a customer credit cannot be released, a shipment cannot be signed off. The fix is a delegation of authority: who can approve what, up to what amount, and who steps in when the first name is out. This is a policy decision, not a training one, and it is often the faster win.
Build cover in layers
Not every role deserves the same level of backup. A practical approach is three tiers.
- Internal cover. A named deputy for each critical task, trained and given access before they need it. Check the access. A backup who cannot log in to the system is not a backup.
- Short-term external cover. For predictable gaps such as vacations, leaves and year-end peaks, a contract professional can step in for a defined period. Contract accountants, payroll specialists, coordinators and production supervisors are among the roles that fill this way. It works best when the handover notes already exist, so the person is productive in days rather than weeks.
- A warm bench for the permanent loss. Vacation is the mild version of the problem. Resignation, illness or a sudden retirement is the real one. Know who you would call, and know what the job would be advertised as, before you need it.
Document the work that matters, not everything
Companies stall on this because they picture a full procedures manual. Skip that. For each critical role, capture:
- The recurring tasks and their deadlines
- Where files, logins and templates live
- The three or four decisions that need judgment, and how the person usually makes them
- Key external contacts and what each one expects
Two pages per role is a good target. Have the person write it, then have their deputy try to follow it. Wherever the deputy gets stuck is what to fix.
Treat it as a retention issue too
A person who is the only one who can do their job is also a person who cannot take a real break. That wears people down. Employees in that position often leave quietly, and then the company loses both the person and the knowledge at once.
Building cover is not a sign that you are planning to replace anyone. Done well, it reads as respect for their time. It also gives the deputy a development step, which helps keep them as well.
In one case, a food manufacturer in the GTA that made more than 20 hires in 18 months across production, skilled trades and office roles found that its hiring plan worked best once it had mapped which positions had no cover. Those roles were filled and cross-trained first, because a gap there stopped output in a way other vacancies did not.
Run the test before the busy season
Pick one critical role and have the deputy run it for a week while the owner is reachable but hands-off. Note every question asked and every task that could not be done. That list is your gap analysis, and it takes less effort than a consultant would.
Repeat for the next role each month. In a quarter, the highest-risk positions are covered.
What to do next
List your 10 most critical roles this week and put a name next to each one for cover. Wherever the cell is blank, decide whether you will train internally, bring in contract help, or start a search. If you need a hand with the contract or permanent side, a Traverse recruiter can help you work through it.