Staffing for Growth

If you are a business owner or manager looking to grow your business, you first need to define what growth looks like – Is it greater revenue?, Increased output? New products or service streams? Increasing industry segments, or gaining new customers? There are many ways in which growth can be measured.

Consider 3 key points before moving forward with staffing for growth:

1. Define growth. At budgeting meetings budgets are set for the next period, which helps to define resource needs and to undertake resource planning. You may start with pictures, graphs, and timelines related to growth, e.g. by 2020 a company may seek to have 50 new accounts, and have developed stronger relationships. You can be more specific by putting dollar values on these relationships. By looking at the existing pool of sales and account managers, which are required to attain and service 20 accounts, you can then extrapolate what you require to gain and service 50 accounts. Planning cash flow may result in you wishing to stagger the employment of these staff members to conservatively manage overall growth.
2. Understand which positions achieve growth. When managers think about growth, especially top line growth, they immediately consider sales roles as the best way of achieving this. Most of the time to help achieve extra sales, organisations do need to start with sales at the pointy end of the process. However, to maintain sales, the operational or administrative staff will need to be considered as important. A sale will usually require a product to be manufactured, distributed, or delivered in the first place. So don’t think purely sales staff. Undoubtedly the sales staff get the ball rolling but be mindful of the numerous other roles which are required to effectively deliver what you produce.
3. Understanding the role you play. Managers and particularly switched on business owners are the ones who achieve strongest growth for their organisation. They know their product or service and the vision which excites customers. Many managers, mostly of small enterprises tend to sell their vision and then forget about it. It is important as a manager not to lock yourself away in the back room, so that you can continue to deliver what the customer is buying. Doing this can actually impede the growth of your organisation. Determine the key role you play within the organization, whether it is in sales or delivery. Make sure to stick to your strengths, and hire around you. I’ve seen many a micro-business owner not achieve their full potential as they continue to be both chief cook and bottle washer in their organisation.

Managers seeking growth need to start by defining it. They also need to have a solid grasp on the positions that will support such growth, and to see what their key strengths are. Once managers have done this, it is time to grow an effective team.

If you are seeking to grow your business but need a hand moving forward with staffing for growth, why not contact Harvest Human Resources for assistance?

Find out more information about Harvest Human Resources, visit www.harvesthr.com.au or call 1300 363 128.

Article written by Maree Herath, Director of Geelong Recruitment Agency, Harvest Recruitment.