Ready to Scale? Here's How to Hire

The goal of most businesses is to grow, right? And while you may be focused on what growth means for your bottom line, it’s important to also consider how that growth will impact your staffing needs. Without a plan for scaling your team, you may end up with gaps that negatively impact your business’ ability to serve your customers.

When It’s Time to Scale

So how do you know when you need to hire more employees?

If your staff is struggling to get their work done because of increased demand or a boom in business, it’s time to scale. And if possible, you might want to start hiring in advance if you know things are going to get crazy in the coming months so you have time to prepare new hires for the madness.

Now let’s look at what you need to know to scale your staff smartly.

1. Know Your Needs

Every good plan starts with being aware of what you need. Before you decide you can’t afford to hire 10 new full-time employees, know that full-time isn’t your only option. You can also hire part-time, contract, or freelance help, depending on your needs and budget.

Determine which roles need to physically be in the office and which can be remote. There are often cost savings and other benefits to hiring virtual employees.

Also, look at which specific tasks you need help with. You may need to shift certain job descriptions and titles if the roles you currently have filled have expanded over time with demand. Review old job descriptions and update them if they’re no longer accurate.

2. Headhunt Before It’s Urgent

Waiting until you are short-staffed may jeopardize your ability to serve customers, so plan in advance to scale your resources. While it’s often impossible to know more than a few weeks in advance that you’re about to lose a star employee, you may be able to predict an uptick in work if you know there’s a big project ahead of you, and you can hire accordingly.

Keep job descriptions on file so you’re ready to implement your recruiting efforts as soon as someone turns in their notice.

3. Hire for Growth

Look for potential employees who can grow into increasing responsibilities and roles over time. Employees want opportunities for career growth. In fact, 37% quit when they don’t find those opportunities.

Also, offer benefits and perks that will entice new employees to stay with your company for years.

4. Consider How Culture May Have Changed

Your startup may have had four employees working out of your house when you launched two years ago. Now that you’re successful, you may have 50 employees and an office. How does this change the dynamics of how employees work together?

The culture of your company may shift as more employees come on board. Take this into consideration as you look for people who fit the company culture.

5. Have a Dedicated Hiring Team

Whether your human resources team is internal or you work with a recruiting company, you may need to scale your HR team to ensure you’ve got the manpower available to handle the work that comes with scaling staff.

6. Automate and Create Processes

Have a process for creating job descriptions, posting job listings, interviewing, and onboarding. Use technology to your benefit. Use software that automates the onboarding process, sending new hires their training materials and paperwork to sign.

Scaling a Remote Workforce

Scaling employees is one challenge. Hiring and managing a remote workforce is completely another.

Have a plan for onboarding remote employees that makes them feel as connected as possible to the rest of their team, and include them in incentive and employee engagement programs.

Have a workflow for getting virtual employees their technology quickly and seamlessly.

You can also provide virtual working support by creating a “remote buddy” system so teleworkers have someone to go to with questions or concerns or just to connect with personally. Implement internal communication tools like Slack or instant messaging to stay in touch with remote employees and to create that “water cooler chat” experience digitally.

With a little advanced planning and the right processes and technology in place, scaling your staff will be easier and more streamlined.

Scale smartly with allwhere! We provide outsourced, centralized procurement; full lifecycle asset management (deployment, replacement, retrieval, storage, disposal, and redeployment); and more to help teams navigate the future of work. To learn more, book a demo with us here.