People & Key Person Strategy
Helping owners attract, retain, reward, and protect the people who drive business value.
Your People Are Your Business.
For privately held companies, key employees are often the single greatest driver of business value — and the single greatest source of risk. Hafemann Financial Services helps owners think clearly about who their key people are, what it takes to keep them, and how to structure benefits and incentives that align their interests with the long-term health of the business.
Who This Is For
This service is designed for owners of privately held B2B companies who are thinking about one or more of the following situations.
A key employee is being recruited away
You have someone critical to operations, client relationships, or revenue — and you are not confident they would stay if approached by a competitor.
You want to reward performance without giving up equity
You want to create meaningful incentives for top performers but are not ready — or willing — to bring on partners or dilute ownership.
You are planning an exit and need key people to stay
A future sale or transition depends on key employees remaining through the process. Retention becomes a transaction issue, not just an HR issue.
You have not planned for what happens if a key person leaves
The sudden loss of a key employee — through departure, disability, or death — could significantly disrupt operations or reduce business value.
What We Cover
Key Person Identification
We help you identify which employees are truly critical — those whose departure would materially affect revenue, operations, or business value — and assess the current level of risk.
Retention & Incentive Strategy
We explore structures that align key employee interests with business performance and longevity — including deferred compensation, bonus arrangements, and non-equity incentive plans.
Executive & Retirement Benefits
We help evaluate benefit structures that can serve as meaningful retention tools, including executive retirement plans and supplemental benefit arrangements coordinated with appropriate specialists.
Key Person Risk Planning
We help owners assess the financial exposure created by dependence on key individuals and identify strategies to reduce that risk — including coordination with insurance and legal specialists.
Specialist Coordination
Where legal documents, insurance products, or tax structures are required, we help identify and coordinate with independent specialists. Each specialist works under a separate engagement with the client.
Hafemann Financial Services helps identify opportunities and coordinates with appropriate independent specialists. The firm does not provide legal or tax advice. Each specialist works under a separate engagement with the client.
Let's Talk About Your Key People.
Whether you are trying to retain a critical employee or planning ahead for a future transition, we can help you think through the options.