You are grateful for everything that your team at work has done – helping you build your business from the ground up.
But now, instead of performing like a well-oiled machine like it used to, your team is lagging behind with its tasks, with everyone feeling overwhelmed.
Is it time to call in reinforcements and expand your team?
Signs that you need more employees
As your business continues to grow, so will the demand for your employees. And in order to keep pace with your company’s growth, you will need to add more workers in order to ensure that things go smoothly without compromising product quality and customer support.
But how do you know when it’s time to hire more people? Here are four signs to look out for:
1. An overwhelmed team
Look around the workplace. Do your employees look tired and stressed out? When your workers need to take in more than their usual volume of work, it will reflect on their appearance and overall demeanour at the workplace.
Employers should never ignore this sign as this can lead to other problems. For one, when your employees are overburdened, their health and well-being can be immensely affected. Some employees may veer away from established safety standards, putting their peers at risk.
The quality of their work may also suffer, leading to customer complaints, or worse, loss of loyal customers.
Overworked employees who feel that their concerns regarding their workload are not being heard may also begin to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
2. Poor output
Another critical sign that you need to beef up your workforce is when your employees’ quality of work is no longer as impressive as it used to be.
If there is a downward trend across multiple teams and employees, it means that your team members simply cannot keep pace with the demands of your growing business.
Employees may need to compensate with speedy but sloppy work due to the increased demand for your products or services.
3. Customer complaints
Your customers are accustomed to a certain standard of quality in your products or services. That is why they have become loyal to your company.
But when there is an influx of complaints coming from your customers, it is highly likely that your team’s quality of work has taken a nosedive simply because they cannot keep up with added orders. Your customers’ dissatisfaction should be a wake-up call for your business that there are critical issues that must be immediately addressed.
4. Turning down new clients
You are well aware of the current workload of your team. You know that they are stretched beyond their capacity as it is, and adding any more work to their plate can bring distress.
So instead of expanding your client portfolio further, you need to turn down new business.
Before adding more employees
Before hiring additional employees, it is crucial for companies to evaluate all bottleneck areas that impede optimal productivity.
Sometimes, your employees are overwhelmed because the systems and standards put into place are faulty to begin with or have become outdated as time went by.
In other cases, some teams are bloated, and you simply need to reconfigure how your workforce is distributed and structured.
When you have eliminated all potential causes of problems related to staff performance, then it is highly recommended that you look closely at the option of adding more people to help you.
Take note that merely adding more people will not solve all your personnel woes. It is crucial for you to determine which positions need to be filled in, or in some cases, which ones must be created.
In some cases, adding more people will help take your team to the next level. And there are instances wherein you simply need to bring in one or two specialists who can lighten the load for the whole team.
You should also consider whether you need to hire full-time employees or part-timers, especially if you have a seasonal business.
Get the help you need
Hiring the right people can make all the difference when it comes to your business’s success. This is why it is critical to invest ample resources in the recruitment process.
If your company does not have the necessary tools and resources for this vital task, consider outsourcing this to an experienced recruitment firm. This will allow you to focus on your strengths while ensuring that you add the right people to your team.
AUTHOR BIO
David Mackenzie, a recruitment professional with over 20 years’ experience in the field and a record of entrepreneurial accomplishment, is Managing Director and Head of HR at Mackenzie Jones. As the Group MD, David is responsible for the overall direction of the Mackenzie Jones Group, including Mackenzie Jones, MumsAtWork, MENA Solutions, Simply Digital and ThinkTech.