Employing a New Member of Staff

It is never a bad thing having too much work, but if you’re struggling to get it done you need to start thinking, is it time for a new employee? Whether it’s your first employee or your tenth it will always be a big step to take, but it could help expand your business if you can add an extra pair of hands.

Now there are many routes you could look at to find what will work for your business and help you grow. Remember you don’t always need to add staff to your payroll, finding alternatives at the beginning can help save you money, training costs and time. In this blog I will be looking at some of the options you have and the benefits each of these come with.

Virtual PA

Your first option could be employing a Virtual PA to help take over some of the daily admin tasks to free your time. Do not be deceived though a virtual PA can do a lot more than just admin. A lot of PA’s have experience within finance, customer service, CRM systems and much more.

Finding a virtual PA with a wide range of skills or a good team could really add value to your business. It can be a cost-effective approach, as you can have set hours your virtual PA will work or do this on a completely flexible basis as and when you need their support. So, during those quiet times you don’t have to worry about paying a salary.

This will also help save on any holiday pay costs or sick pay, you only pay for what you use. A virtual PA could help take over your calls and appointment setting while you finally get the chance to begin to grow the company and are no longer stuck at your desk.

Apprenticeship

This could be a good way for you to train your own member of staff to do things the way you like them done. This could help someone start their career and begin to take over your small tasks and with training start to gain more responsibility.

Taking on an apprentice will initially take up some of your time, first with recruitment and conducting interviews and then with training and helping introduce the apprentice to the new work environment. But if you can invest this time early on, it could be a good start to having an employee who is trained in the way you need them to work.

An apprentice who is new to the work environment could also bring a lot of fresh ideas, possible new ways of working with new technology.

Agency

If you needed possibly temporary cover during a busy time or during maternity leave using an agency could be a way forward. This will cost you in agency fees but will allow you to find a very specific person to help fill a gap in your team on a temporary basis.

This will allow you to have someone with specific skills you are looking for, certain agencies specialise in different industries therefore you know you will be getting someone who has experience in that area.

Using an agency to have a temporary member of staff can also be a way to establish if you would need a part time or full time member of staff and you can do this without a long term contract.

Experienced Member of Staff

Employing an already experienced member of staff can help you offload more responsibility a lot faster. An experienced member of staff will be able to bring a lot more knowledge from previous roles and use this to help expand the business.

When employing an experienced member of staff you are also taking on more costs, this experience will show in the salary expected by the employee. An experienced member of staff though may already have good knowledge of all the systems you use and therefore allow you more time to grow the business rather than needing to spend time with 1 to 1 training.

This could really help elevate the business as an experienced member of staff will have knowledge of the industry and already know how to conduct themselves in a business setting.

There are a lot of overlaps between each choice you could make. That is why it is so important to look into every option and see what will suit you. While some options at first may be more cost effective, some will also take a lot more of your time at the beginning with training and resources.

Overall every business is unique and will have different demands placed on it depending on how it is run. Making sure you find the right fit for your business is crucial as this new person will be representing you and your business.