Determining when to hire a colleague can sometimes be a large unknown. As a CEO, oftentimes you know that you need help, but when should you hire additional support for your business?

Great question! In this post, we’ll discuss the 4 signs that it may be time to hire your first or next employee.

#1 It’s time for you to hire when your business demands are outpacing your business growth

The good news is that your business is growing and people are in need of your service(s). The bad news is that there aren’t enough hands on deck to manage the growth. When this happens, it’s common to experience the internal turmoil of wanting to be thankful for the influx of clients but feeling extreme levels of overwhelm and anxiety about how you’ll manage it all. 

This is a great time to assess your current services to ensure they’re as streamlined as possible. You should also decide whether or not additional hands are needed to offer your services to more people at once.

Here are some questions to consider: Are clients experiencing extended turnaround times from your business due to an increase in demand?; Is it hard to keep track of your clients?; Are you turning down new clients due to a lack of resources?

#2 It’s time for you to hire when as the owner, you are personally overstretched

It’s easy to lose sight of your responsibilities as the CEO when you’ve had to be your own accountant, administrative assistant, marketing manager, and human resources administrator. Taking on the “I can do it all” mentality may have worked when you first started, but as a growing business, you’re probably realizing that doing it all isn’t profitable or peaceful. When all of those additional roles you’ve taken on begin to outpace your time spent as the CEO, it’s time to think about outsourcing or hiring. 

Here are some questions to consider: Are you in the weeds of a specific area that may require an expert?; Is there someone whose expertise could free you up to focus on a more important area of business?; Are you in a state of burnout from having to do too much of the load?

#3 It’s time for you to hire when there is minimal to no time for innovation and strategic thinking

Having the freedom to grow professionally and prioritize innovation plays a huge role in your business. Your business is evolving and you should have time to think about what makes you different from other competitors, how you position your services, and what you bring to the table as a way to attract and retain clients. The answers to those questions are constantly changing and take time to think through. If you find yourself with no time to focus on the vision and future of your business, it may be time to hire. 

If this is where you are in your business, comments from your current clients or team members may sound like this: “We have had this problem for over a month and have not been able to focus on solving it”, or “We’re doing what we’ve always done, but aren’t any new aspects, features or options to improve.”

Here are some questions to consider: Could current processes benefit from having additional support to provide an enhanced quality experience?; Is there anything in your business that has been overlooked by competing priorities that you would like to be able to do?; Are you able to practice delegating work to a trusted team member to execute high-priority items on your list?

#4 It’s time for you to hire when the business is experiencing a downward turn in customer satisfaction or quality of work

Revenue is one of the main reasons we are here. As a service-based business, customers drive your revenue. For this reason, you have to have an awareness of how customers view what you have to offer. If you’re starting to receive negative feedback tied to the quality of your service or less-than-satisfactory scores, this could indicate that it is time to hire.

If this is something you’re currently experiencing, the feedback you may receive from clients could sound like this: “The overall process felt rushed”, “I was never able to speak with someone or get in contact with anyone for a question”, or “The service I received had errors or was halfway done”. 

If you or your team is rushing to fit clients to complete a service on a limited time at the expense of quality, it may be time to hire. 

Here are some questions to consider: Has the quality of work you’ve been producing for clients met your personal and professional standards?; Are your customers experiencing less quality from your business due to lack of time or availability?

So, is now a good time for you to hire?

If so, we have a completely done-for-you Hiring Prep and Recruiting service that helps you attract and hire highly qualified candidates to join your team.

Here’s how we do it:

When you book our Hiring Prep & Recruiting service, you spend 90 minutes with our Human Resource Consultant completing what we like to call a “Success Profile.” After the 90-minute session, we create your custom hiring prep materials (job description, applicant questionnaire, interview questions, etc.), post the open role, and conduct first-round interviews for you. 

Instead of trying to figure out what you should include in the job description, where to post the role, or how you’re going to find the time to sort through tons of applications, you can sit back and relax while we take the entire process off of your plate.

In a little under 8 weeks, you’ll have a new employee/contractor on your team that you feel confident about working with. Also, if you need support after your new hire has joined the team, you have the option to add Human Resource Consulting to your package. 

Sign up for our Hiring Prep & Recruiting Service here!