Did you see me on TV last week? Well, you probably didn't see me exactly — but you might have seen my neighborhood — or at least some of the neighborhoods close by. You see, the north shore of Boston had up to 10 inches of rain in two days last week. It made national news. Rivers overflowed, roads washed out and my basement had 10 inches of water in it — more than I have seen in 27 years of living in our house.

With the addition of a second sump pump during the height of the storm, the water started to abate. Don and I slogged through some typical basement debris, moving stuff to "higher ground," and then came upstairs, lit a fire and actually enjoyed being held hostage by Mother Nature.

I wasn't in such a forgiving state 27 years ago. The first time we had water in our basement, I cried for two days! I'm not just saying that — I really did. I kept on sweeping the water into the sump hole and it kept on rising up again! I stayed up all night long sweeping and sweeping some more, but it was no use. Lots of our things got damaged and had to be thrown out.

What I subsequently realized was this — I live in a topographically low place. There are swamps nearby and it is quite likely that my house could not be built by today's standards. But in 1952, standards were different. I will always have some water in the basement if we have a particularly rainy spring. So I learned a long time ago not to keep anything valuable in the basement, test the pump periodically so we don't get caught without, and keep my "Wellies" near the bottom basement step!

Some Employees Are Like My Basement

No, I don't mean that they're wet, soggy and have to be professionally "de-molded" every now and then. But here's what I do mean…

I was frustrated 27 years ago that my basement wasn't what I wanted it to be. Similarly, I think many CEOs and hiring managers (and I've seen this first-hand) are frustrated with employees who are not as advanced as they want! These managers want more. They want passion. They want smarts — they want whatever. But (and this is important), the employee is doing a good job and is happy and satisfied with where he is in the company (and probably his life!)

My basement is not the ideal. It will never be beautiful, finished, have a sexy wine cellar or anything like that. Likewise, some employees will not be the stars you want them to be. They will never be the top salesperson, or the top customer service rep, or the financial wizard. BUT — that's okay because they do a good job (most of the time) and are happy and comfortable with themselves and the job they are doing.

So, here are a few tips to make sure you don't lose these very solid workers:

• Don't let them go. Like a good baseball team, you should realize that not everyone can be a star (and you wouldn't want it that way anyway!). You need those solid relief pitchers.
• Invest in them by making sure they get continual training to keep their job skills sharp.
• Keep them part of the team and inspired by their work, even though they are not moving up in the ranks of the company.
• And finally, don't forget to be sure that their compensation is in line (or maybe even a little higher) with the going rate. These are the people who won't come to you for a raise, but you'll find out that their salary wasn't competitive the day they resign.

Think of these employees as your company's foundation. Treat them as well as you do your "stars" — they, too, keep your company afloat!