For any business, regardless of size, it is fundamental to hire the right people, but when is the right time to hire a new employee?
A company’s workforce is one of its most expensive and valuable assets, so employing suitable people who understand the company ethos is vital. The most common time to hire a new employee is when someone resigns, and you need like replacement. However, there are many key milestones that require adding more people to your team. We’ve outlined five of these below.
1. Adding staff to ease times of expansion
A key time to hire new staff is during expansion. Expansion in a company suggests the company is doing well financially and going through a period of growth. What better time to take a calculated risk and hire new staff to help with the growth.
It is natural that business expansion will create new positions. Often your current employees will be already stretched and not able to take on new demands and extra work. Hiring new employees can help to reduce any negative impact the expansion may have and bring fresh ideas into your business at a crucial time.
2. Transitions in structure and systems
It is normal for a business to evolve and adapt to ensure it is functioning at the best possible level for both staff and clients. Regular review of processes and structures should mean you can monitor how efficiently the company is working. If you discover that a particular system or structure is not working well then, of course, it will need addressing. Take the opportunity to re-evaluate how your staff are working, and re-distribute workloads to make the business more effective.
Transitional periods can be a fantastic time to take on new staff, as new team members can help bridge the gaps between the old and the new structure. New employees who join a company during key organisational changes are often better positioned to implement the new structure with confidence, as they have no prior experience or attachment to the old system.
3. When overworked staff ask for support
Another sign that it could be the right time to hire a new employee is if your current staff are working very hard – maybe too hard – and letting you know about it. If there is an overall feeling that they are overworked and complaints that they do not have enough time to take on any additional tasks, then it could be time to open your ears and listen to what they have to say. Identify the areas that they feel the most pressure and consider putting a new member of staff in place to cope with the workload.
4. To turn around sliding productivity
Typically in a downturn of activity, you would not consider hiring new staff. However, there are occasions when it might be worth reconsidering. Take a look at why and where the productivity levels are down and review how efficiently the business is running in these areas.
Depending on where the problem lies, a decrease in productivity levels could be due to a need for fresh staff. Hiring new, skilled workers and providing them with quality training could bring about a much-needed upturn.
5. Solving issues between employees
You can’t get on with everyone in this world, and the working world is no different. Ideally, as a business, you would employ team players who work well with others and are highly skilled for the jobs. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work like that. Relationships can break down and sometimes issues cannot be resolved. If this is the case, you have to deal with the problem, which can create an opportunity to fill the gap with a new, talented worker that is a better fit for the company.
Whenever you decide on the right time to hire a new employee, make sure your induction and recruitment processes are up to date and provide your people with the online training that they need to succeed.