It can be challenging for your growing business to pinpoint when it’s time to add more people to your current roster of employees. After all, there are several considerations to make.
For starters, there’s your financial capacity to take into account. You can’t hire new staff if that’s not something you can afford. You’ll also have to check whether your manager can handle a new addition to their team or if their department has already become too cumbersome for them to handle.
At some point though, hiring becomes inevitable. Here are signs that say you’re ready to hire and welcome new faces into the team.
1. Workloads are imbalanced
Good managers keep an eye out for their employees. If you see that your employees’ workloads are getting heavier even during off-peak seasons, such that they’re still lagging in terms of output even though they’re working hard, then what you’re noticing is an imbalance of workloads. In that case, it is better to be proactive and start hiring than wait for your team to be stressed out by their heavy workloads. Doing so will allow you to properly redistribute responsibilities and keep your manpower at optimal levels. It also prevents employee burnout and absenteeism to boot.
2. Current employees are working overtime
One clear sign that your employees are overburdened with work is they are rendering overtime work to catch up with their workload. Not only is this detrimental to their health, but it can adversely affect your business as well. Employees need proper work-life balance to function at their best. If that balance is compromised, they become at risk of burnout.
Employee burnout results in subpar performance. It can also lead to toxic workplace culture. Plus, if not properly addressed, it will increase your turnover rate, which equates to financial loss.
3. Your team has a gap in skills
If you often find yourself looking for help with a task that is specialized, say, video editing, and your existing employees do not have the skills to do it, then it is a sign that you need to hire a new person to fill this gap.
While you may think that it will be easier to train an existing employee to do the job that you require, you could still end up shorthanded as their output may not be on the same level that you want. Hence, you’re better off hiring fresh recruits.
4. Customer service and customer experience are stumbling
Overworked and stressed-out employees are prone to provide mediocre or even bad customer service. Once you start receiving calls from clients mad about missed deadlines or inaccurate orders, that’s a sign that your staff can’t handle what’s on their plate.
Customer experience has a direct effect on sales and profit, so keep that in mind. You do not want to risk losing business because you’re hesitant to build a team that’s commensurate with the number of tasks at hand.
5. You can no longer accommodate new customers
Expansion plans mean accommodating new business. For you to reach sales and profit objectives, you can’t rely solely on existing customers and clients. You need to expand your network. That calls for an expansion of your workforce, too.
Taking in more business requires more people to cater to deliverables. Sticking with what you already have labor-wise does not align with the plan.
6. You’re expanding to a new location
This is pretty obvious. Your team can’t work in two places at the same time. Nor can you divide your existing workforce into two groups so you can cater to both locations, old and new. If you do so, you’re putting employee morale at risk, and their performance might suffer.
The easiest way to solve this predicament is by hiring a new team for your new location. While the additional investment in manpower and training may be costly upfront, the potential revenue of your new, fully operational branch can bring in dividends in the long run.
7. You’re planning to start a new product line or service
When you’re planning to introduce a brand-new product or service, it would be best if you hire recruits for the job. Sure, you can teach your current employees new systems or protocols corresponding to whatever fresh offering you have for your target market. But that comes at the expense of them possibly neglecting their previous job responsibilities.
Hiring additional staff for your new product line is a better way to go. Not only will this reduce the workloads of your existing employees, but you can also choose to hire people with previous experience in a similar product line to hit the ground running at launch.
8. You want to be a more strategic leader
A small business owner often takes on multiple responsibilities. While that’s good when you’re starting, the moment you look into growth planning, you’re better off delegating tasks to focus on business aspects that require your undivided attention.
Here, there’s no other way to go but hire. Train your new staff well, and you can rest assured that they’ll do the job as well, if not better than you have hoped for.
Hire for the win
Hiring new staff means diversifying your current roster of talents further. Yes, it’s a business expenditure but one that can reap ROI if done right. So do not delay hiring, especially if all the signs point to a need for an expanded workforce. Refer to the list above to help you decide with certainty.
And once you know you’re ready to hire, set out to work with a premier recruitment agency in the Philippines. In this regard, Manila Recruitment is your worthy ally. We offer top-notch HR services, and we can help you hire for the win.
