Define: "Key person dependency" in Business
Catastrophic fiscal burn
"If you are the key person, do not document your secrets until you secure a retention bonus."
An operational risk where critical knowledge is concentrated in a single staff member.
What does "Key person dependency" actually mean?
"Management's sanitized term for the single overworked sysadmin who holds all root passwords because leadership refuses to pay market rates."
"We are conducting knowledge transfers to mitigate key person dependency risk across core infrastructure teams."
"The entire datacenter migration stalled because of a key person dependency on Dave, who was currently on a beach without cellular service."
By The Chief Waste Officer
18 years in the corporate trenches quantifying waste so you don't have to.
Related Terminology
Tired of hearing this?
Next time someone says "Key person dependency" in a meeting, track exactly how much company money they just wasted. Play Buzzword Bingo, generate a waste invoice, and stop the bleeding.
