There are many benefits to having a small team. When people work in smaller groups, it typically allows for greater accountability, better collaboration, and faster project outcomes. However, while lean teams can be highly effective, your team could be walking a fine line between being efficient and being understaffed. Your primary focus should be on the value you can offer, not on cost reduction. If having a lean staff is starting to impact your team or other aspects of the business, it might be time to consider hiring a new employee.

Unlike replacing an employee who resigned, the decision to hire an additional team member isn’t always as easy. Below are a few signs that the time has come to start thinking about hiring a new employee.

You can’t take on new opportunities

The clearest sign your organization needs to hire more employees is when you can’t take on more work, new clients, or additional customers. If your team is being stretched too thin and is focusing on survival over growth, you should re-evaluate your current strategy. Not being able to focus on big picture growth can lead you to lose potential business to your competitors, which can hurt your profits in the long run.

Your employees are burnt out

There’s a fine line between being challenged and being overwhelmed with work. If you notice your team working longer hours and taking longer to meet their deadlines, they might be burned out. Employee burnout needs to be taken seriously at your organization. Not only can it lead to lost productivity, low morale, and absenteeism, but you also run the risk of developing a reputation as a toxic workplace. Since this can hurt your ability to attract and retain talent, you should take steps to reduce stress in the workplace by ensuring you are maintaining the appropriate levels of staff for the workload.

Your business is missing key skills

Hiring a new employee with a skillset that your business is lacking could be well worth it. Whether you are offering a new service, there is a skills gap on your team, or you want to take more tasks in-house, hiring someone with the right skills can put your organization in a good position for growth.

Highly skilled employees are taking on low value tasks

Take notice of your highly skilled staff members’ work. Are they forced to take on more administrative or low value tasks? If it’s impacting their ability to be strategic or do their regular work, you might to consider bringing on staff members that can support them. Do a calculation on the dollar value of your skilled workers time per hour. If they are performing tasks that would cost less if assigned to a junior staff member, consider delegating that work to a new employee.

Your customers and clients are taking notice

You’ll need to make some serious decisions if your clients or customers are noticing a change in the quality of your organization’s work. You don’t want your employees to miss deadlines, not answer emails, or produce mediocre work all because you are trying to do more with less resources. All of these issues can hurt your company’s reputation and drive your key stakeholders away. To ensure high quality services and stay competitive, you’ll want to consider hiring a new employee in the near future.

If your business shows any of the signs listed above, the team at The Execu|Search Group can help. Contact us today and our team of recruiters can be a resource as you navigate a hiring strategy for your business.