How do we stop automations breaking when someone leaves?

Build around functions instead of people.

Automations break at turnover because they get attached to individuals. Emails send from a named person's address. Leads route to a specific user. Tasks assign to whoever built the workflow. When that account goes away, the sequence either stops or keeps sending from an inbox nobody reads.

The fix is to ask what job each step does, not who currently does it. High volume top of funnel outreach can run from a durable sender identity that does not change when staff does. The moment a conversation gets real, hand it to a named human, because a high trust offer should feel like a person.

The same logic applies when you lose someone. The instinct is to hire a replacement shaped exactly like the person who left. The better move is to list every function they performed and ask how each one gets done now. Some go to people. Some become automation. What is left is the real job description.