For new business owners, it's not always clear when to go beyond core employees and start recruiting new teammates. Growing pains are normal for a successful startup, so until you see your employees struggling, you may not realize it's time to provide extra help.
To help you better spot the signs, we offer some crucial pointers that your business needs additional IT support staff. Research these issues within your company so you can tackle them head-on and give your employees the help they need to do their jobs right.
1. Inadequate IT Staff
One sign that your business needs more IT support staff is when your core team is reluctant to take time off. When an employee feels like the only one who can do their job and is afraid to walk away from work, it can quickly lead to burnout. If your team roles are isolated, your first step may be to create more crossovers.
2. Security Issues
Your employees who complain about being busy are a tell-tale sign that you need IT support staff. There may be problems meeting deadlines or requests to hire freelancers when you experience this issue. A good leader must have an advantage when taking new accounts and have open and regular communication with their teams. There are likely to be bottlenecks in production as you scale, but knowing where there are not enough staff is critical to scale and provide your customers with the best products, services, and expertise. Our business depends on each team member performing optimally and creatively. So if they are feeling stressed or overwhelmed, we as managers and owners need to know about it.
3. Professional IT services may help if your staff fall behind on key responsibilities
You have hired each of your employees for a particular job, and each job has a particular job description that outlines the employee's primary responsibilities. If you notice that a member of your staff is constantly working on tasks that are outside of their job description, it may be time to take a step back and determine if you need to hire IT support staff. Of course, people must be flexible, especially in a startup environment. Your employees should step out of their comfort zone and get involved as needed. The fact that people are working beyond their job descriptions is not necessarily a red flag in and of itself. The problem arises when they begin to fall behind in their main job responsibilities.
- Key performance indicators and success rates start to decline
If your business needs IT support staff, you will see your KPIs and your success begin to slow down. It could mean that your team is taking on too much responsibility and you need support staff to keep track of everything. As your business grows, you will need more hands-on the bridge to tackle marketing, sales, support, development, and more.
- Managers and employees lose focus
A big problem that companies face without enough help is wasted concentration. This is one of the most telling signs of poor work management. The lack of focus here is not the effect of a rebellious leader or employee. I'm talking about the barriers that prevent your qualified employees from being as productive as their capabilities and business goals justify. Successful companies are always looking for bigger and better problems to solve.