If you’re feeling overworked and need another pair of hands around to help, it can be easy to think that all you need to do is pop a job ad up and kickstart the interview process.
Firstly, it’s not as simple as this, and secondly, you need to consider if hiring is really the right solution to your problem.
While taking on board a new staff member might seem like the easy – or only – option, in some cases it could end up costing your business more time and money than is necessary. Even as specialists in hiring, we always help our clients determine if it’s a staff member they really need, or if the problem can be solved in other ways.
Why you feel a new hire is needed
One of the clearest indications you need help is when you feel your company isn’t growing, or when you’re growing faster than you have the resources to handle. Yet in both of these scenarios, it can feel like a scary time to spend money on new employees. Catch 22 , right?
So before you send out a job ad, take a moment to step back and assess your current processes and operations to ensure they are running as efficiently as they could be.
Because by reviewing your business, you might realise you don’t need to hire someone at all.
- Do we have simple, documented processes in place?
It’s important to put aside a few hours to map your business’s processes so you can analyse what is and isn’t working and where improvements could be made.
For example, an online booking system could reduce the amount of time your staff spends on the phone, or maybe your team would work more effectively if they had an online tool they could use for internal communications.
Even something as simple as implementing time tracking software could help you to recognise what tasks your staff are spending the most time on, and whether you can help reduce their workload in a simple way.
Make it a goal to review all your procedures and processes, so you can see what can be tweaked and streamlined for improved efficiency, before you hire.
- Could a VA or contractor replace the need to hire full time or part time?
COVID-19 has changed the way we work completely. Companies that never previously had a digital presence are embracing remote working.
This pivot has its benefits and if you take the time to think outside of the box in terms of the way you hire, you might be able to reduce costs.
For example, rather than employing a secretary to keep track of your schedule, help with your correspondence and maintain administration, you might want to outsource these tasks to a virtual assistant (VA).
A good VA will have systems in place to help you with daily organisation, and should be able to recommend programs to help you to improve your processes.
Best of all, VAs often cost significantly less than hiring a full-time secretary.
- Do we have the time and skillset to train a new team member?
After putting your business under the microscope and feeling you still need to hire extra help, make sure you understand what will be involved in the hiring process to ensure you have capacity for it.
When recruiting, you will need to write the job ad, sort through CVs, conduct interviews and then narrow it down to a list of top candidates. You may need to meet with managers and business partners to complete the selection process.
Then, once the new hire comes onboard, you will need to train them, assess their work and provide feedback, and review their performance once they come off probation.
All of this legwork takes a lot of time and effort, so make sure your business has the space to implement the full process end-to-end.
And if you don’t have the capacity, perhaps consider hiring those who do (let us know if we can help!)
Optimise now to save later
By putting in some effort ahead of recruiting new staff, you can determine whether or not you need to go through the recruitment process at all.
Remember, if you can improve your business’s operations without having to spend more on additional salaries then it will be a win for the company as a whole.
It’s best to optimise your processes so you can save costs now and put that money aside for the time when you really need to hire.
Get in touch today and we can help you determine if you are really ready to hire or if you can solve your challenges in another way.