It's 9 am on a Monday morning, and you're abruptly awoken by the high-pitched jingle of your meeting ringtone.
You completely forgot about the 9 am meeting you'd scheduled because you were up until 4 am working on something else.
You mistook your keyboard for a pillow, resulting in lots of confused team members. Your colleagues are left wondering whether your laptop got hacked by your dog.
The best camera filter doesn't even mildly reduce the bags under your eyes, and you sleepily admit to your new client that you're unable to provide them with your product or services because you just don't have enough staff.
Sound nightmarish?
No one wants burnout. Trying to singlehandedly juggle the workload of 10 can lead to horrific scenarios like this.
However, this can all be easily avoided if you expand your team.
Grow your team, grow your business
Juggling heavy workloads is destructive, and it's certainly not sustainable for you or your business.
Growing your team will...
- Significantly improve work-life balance
- Balance out manageable workloads
- Drive innovation
- Boost productivity
- Improve the quality of work
- Ensures consistency in all areas of your business
- Expand your business
But for some SMEs or start-ups, expanding a team can be a big leap. There's a lot to consider when taking on a new role. Time, energy, training resources, paperwork and money.
When is it time to expand your team?
Look out for the tell-tale signs that you need to expand your workforce, to avoid gruelling caffeine addictions and falling asleep at work.
You should probably expand your team if...
- Employees are overworked
- You're turning down new clients
- Productivity is decreased
- You're lacking specialised skills
- You're making more mistakes
- You can't remember the last time you went on holiday
1) Employees are overworked
If the existing team members are consistently overwhelmed with their tasks and struggling to meet deadlines, it might be an indicator that it's time to bring in additional help.
This overload can manifest in various ways. Deadlines are missed, quality has drastically declined, and stress levels are through the roof. When employees are perpetually pushed to their limits, it's not only detrimental to their well-being but also to your business's overall performance.
Getting an extra pair of hands on deck will evenly distribute workloads, so that your team members can focus on their core responsibilities.
This not only improves productivity but also enhances job satisfaction, reducing the risk of employee burnout and turnover. Happy staff, happy business.
2) You're saying 'no' to customers
As your business grows, so do your customer demands. You're unable to take on new clients, and it feels like there's a backlog of incomplete customer requests.
Failing to meet these demands can result in dissatisfied customers and damage your reputation.
No one wants this. Not only does it look bad, but it's literally the opposite of growth.
Taking on more staff can help you increase your client load, and rake in the extra pennies.
3) There's a decrease in productivity
The quality of work isn't what it used to be, and there's a major decline in productivity. Resources are stretched, tasks are rushed, and you're making more mistakes.
These are common symptoms of overworked employees. Which of course, leads to the doomed domino effect.
Overworked and overwhelmed staff = more mistakes = more unhappy customers = higher churn = no growth.
It's the vicious cycle all business owners want to avoid and it means productivity will continuously go down the drain.
When your employees struggle to meet their objectives or daily tasks take longer to complete, it's time to start dishing out interviews.
Adding new team members can help break the cycle. By improving the team's efficiency and capacity, you can boost productivity and restore a sense of achievement among your employees.
4) You require specialised skills
You've promised clients a particular service, but you haven't got the skill set to deliver it. You're providing services that require a job role that you haven't even hired for yet.
Expanding your team with individuals who bring fresh perspectives and domain-specific knowledge can be a real game-changer. This means you can delegate these tasks to these individuals and know that the job will be done and done well.
Diversifying your skill set means you can adapt more quickly. It also means you can launch new products, adopt new technology, and even explore new markets.
The results? Growth, growth, and more growth.
5) You can't remember the last time you went on holiday
Your mental health is taking the brunt of it, and you're unable to take time off because you're too busy trying to meet the demands of multiple jobs. Nothing is ever worth this level of mental burnout.
So treat yourself (and your employees) to an easier life, with distributed workloads and manageable schedules.
Too close to home?
If all these things sound a little too close to home, then it's probably time to start casting the nets for new team members. Investing in new team members is invaluable.
It's a profitable decision; it makes your business more money and saves you more time.
Whether you're outsourcing work, or hiring for a new role, expanding your team to address rising customer demands is good for everyone. Your employees have a rewarding time at work, you're able to set positive morale, and your customers get the best quality service. So ultimately, your business thrives.
