Sure signs that it’s
time to hire!
When a company is going through difficult times, new hires tend to be the last thing on manager’s minds. Budgets are tight, employees are stressed, clients are unhappy and morale is low – surely not the right time to bring somebody new into the team, right? Wrong!
There are of course some cases where it is not viable for a company to hire new people, but this is not always the case. Keep reading for sure signs that it’s time to grow your team.
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Growth is stagnant. If the company has been making a steady profit, but hasn’t been growing over the past few months or years then this can be a sign that it’s time for a new hire. Bringing on new team members will bring new energy into the company and will be able to give the company the needed push to reach that next financial goal.
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You are too busy managing, and not able to focus on your own tasks. As managers it is of course important to manage your teams well and provide them with input & feedback, but a manager’s job is more than just looking over the shoulder of the team. You should be able to focus on your own tasks such as company development and other big picture stuff. If you are finding you don’t have enough time to do these things, then hire someone to take those things off your hands! They can then focus on making sure team members are getting answers to the questions they need, and ensure the day to day is running smoothly while you have more time to focus on what’s on your desk.
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Your employees are working on tasks they are overqualified for and don’t have time to develop their career within the company. Oftentimes companies will advertise that it is easy to “climb the career ladder” within the company, and development opportunities are given to all of the employees. These things are great, but what if the employees simply don’t have time to take advantage of this? If your team members are too busy having to do tasks not related to their position, or tasks they are overqualified for then they won’t have time to focus on the things they should be focusing on.
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Employees aren’t given sufficient training. If a company is lacking staff, oftentimes new employees will only be given brief onboarding, and are then expected to know how everything works because their team mates or managers are too busy with other tasks. I am all for learning by doing, but this can quickly turn into employees being given tasks they have no idea how to master. This stresses out the employees because they usually need longer to finish a task they weren’t properly trained for, and they end up having to ask their colleagues for help which in turn distracts their colleagues from their own tasks. It takes time to properly train a new employee, but ensuring you have enough people in your team that can train new employees will make everyone happier in the long run.
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Work/Life Balance within the company is suffering. Do you (or your colleagues) feel guilty about taking some days off? Then this can be a sign that the team is being overworked and employees aren’t able to arrange their schedules so that they can take a well-deserved breather every once in a while. Having enough people in the team to cover absences means that employees can clear their minds and really take some time off when they need to. This boosts morale, and ensures that they come back energized and ready to jump back into work.
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Clients are starting to feel the effects. Do your clients have a hard time reaching you? Or are you having to push deadlines back again and again? If companies are understaffed the effects won’t just be felt within the company, but will have a chain reaction and affect your clients as well – resulting in unhappy clients, bad reviews and in the worst case a loss of business.
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Saving money is costing you money. Are you constantly having to pay your employees overtime? Are signs of burnout creeping into the office? You may think that saving on hiring costs will save you time and money, but if your team is constantly having to work overtime then the costs of paying them vs. hiring support will most likely even out in the end and you won’t have to risk any of your employees getting burned out.
With any new hire, there will be costs involved, but keep in mind that making the proper investment in the right candidates will always pay off in the long term. Your team, your clients and company profit will thank you!
Don’t forget that using temporary workers can be a great asset to the company should a permanent hire not be viable at the moment. Give them a test drive, hold onto good candidates before they go to the competition, fill unexpected vacancies quicker, etc. Need more reasons as to why temporary workers can be an asset to your company? Find out why here: 7 Reasons Why Temporary Workers Are An Asset To Companies