THE CHALLENGE OF KNOWING WHEN TO EXPAND YOUR TEAM In my years of coaching within the print industry, a challenge I see many business owners face, and in fact, I’ve helped many overcome, is knowing when the right time is to expand the team. The timing of this can play a huge role in ensuring sustainable growth, operational efficiency, and profitability of a business. In this edition, I thought it might be useful for the readers of Print Monthly to understand what the key indicators are to recruit and offer some actionable insights to help you make informed decisions about your workforce. One thing you need to consider before taking someone on is how well that person’s skillset aligns with your company’s objectives. This is why one of the first things I do with any business is create or update its ‘mission statement’ as It’s crucial to all decisions made by the business owner. Once we have that in place, we can look at putting the right people in the right positions. Building the right workforce directly influences you to meet deadlines, maintain quality control, manage relationships with your customers, and drive growth in your business. Building a strategically staffed team ensures smoother operations. If you get this wrong, you compromise all of the above and create more problems for yourself. This is the part most people struggle with but there are some key indicators that I suggest you keep an eye out for: Increase In Number of Jobs – Whether you’re starting on your own or have an established team already, being aware of an overwhelmed workforce is often a clear sign of needing to make changes. If you or your team are constantly working late or taking on more tasks than you can typically handle, pushing yourself or your team beyond personal limits will eventually lead to burnout, poor job satisfaction, and even result in high staff turnover. Reduction In Quality of Work – We’ve all heard the saying “You’re only as good as your last job”, so maintaining the highest quality of work as standard is paramount. If you start to see a rise in quality concerns or missed deadlines, the chances are you're being spread too thin. As such, these could be a result of important tasks being rushed or inadequately trained staff needing extra resources to bring them up to speed. Inability to Meet Customer Needs for New Products – Again, this is something I see often. Print companies know they have to increase their offering but usually struggle to do so due to the nature of time involved with adding new products to their website or other marketing materials. What I suggest is that you survey your customers to explore what products are in immediate demand. What items do your current customers wish you offered but don’t? Once you know this you can also go for the quick wins. If this is something you struggle with, it could be a sign that you need to expand your team. I’d recommend investing in new staff with experience in customer service strategies. Increase in Customer Complaints and Churn Rates – This is normally one of the most obvious and reliable indicators of issues with operational efficiencies. An Colin Sinclair McDermott, aka The Online Print Coach, gives his tips on recruitment and seeing the telltale signs to increase your team, but in the most efficient manner Having been in the print industry since the mid-late 90s, Colin Sinclair McDermott entered the world of self-employment in 2004 and over the years that followed, experienced a number of highs and lows running his own print company, learning what does and doesn’t work. In 2022, he trained with The Business Coaching Academy to become a fully certified corporate coach with the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches. Through The Online Print Coach, industry members can access an online training platform, Print Mastermind and private 1-to-1 coaching with Sinclair McDermott. www.theonlineprintcoach.com The Benefits of Strategic Staffing So, When Do You Know When It’s Time to Grow Your Team? INDUSTRY TIPS / THE ONLINE PRINT COACH 40 email: news@printmonthly.co.uk November / December 2024 - Issue 351 ▼ Businesses should look for good soft skills in applicants such as good communication and problemsolving skills
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjM0NDIxOA==