Hiring and leading a team is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have when growing your business. It can allow you to expand and create opportunities in your small business to have even more impact in the world than you’ve ever imagined. However, hiring a team isn’t right for everyone. 

As a small business owner, you’re exposed to gurus, consultants, and experts (and even new and inexperienced business owners) shouting from their internet rooftops every day to:

• “Outsource ALL the things!”

• “Delegate, delegate, delegate.”

• “Hire a team to achieve success.”

Over time, when you hear a message enough, it can become so ingrained in your mind that it’s hard to remember whether this was something you actually wanted...or not. Your dreams merge with these messages and soon you can’t tell where your voice begins and theirs ends.

While there are many wonderful reasons to hire a team, and countless benefits of doing so, it’s important to consider the pros and cons of any major decision in your business before diving in head first. Hiring included!

That’s why, even though our business here at SproutHR is all about helping you hire and lead a thriving team, we want to make sure you understand exactly what that entails so you can make the best decision for yourself and your business right now – no one else!  

Let’s take a look at three key reasons why hiring a team isn’t right for everyone.

Hiring Requires Commitment

Many aspects of being a business owner are flexible and stretchy. We can quickly bring new ideas to life, pivot on a dime as needed, and drop ideas that aren’t working or that we don’t enjoy doing anymore. 

Hiring isn’t one of these situations.

When you bring an employee onto your team, it should be done as a long-term decision, investment, and commitment. One that should be taken seriously, because hiring requires your full commitment.

Too often, business owners wait until they’re overwhelmed, overextended, and overworked to hire. I like to call this “pants-on-fire” hiring and it’s not a fun, or productive, place to be.

When business owners hire from a place of desperation (i.e. “Just get me a warm body!”), they’re only thinking about handling their immediate needs, not what’s best for the long-term success of the business. 

This means that once those needs have been met, business owners can find themselves stuck with an employee who isn’t a good fit and wondering what to do with them.

It’s important to think about hiring employees strategically and for the long haul. It’s not fair to hire an employee as a band-aid solution for your business. This is a far different game than hiring contractors. 

If you want committed employees, you must also be committed to them and their success. Otherwise, you’ll always have a revolving door of employees and never reap the rewards of an intentional and dedicated team.

If you’re not ready to make this level of commitment, then hiring might not be right for you.

Hiring Requires Letting Go

One of the biggest and most common challenges small business owners face when hiring employees is the ability – or rather, inability – to let go.

I get it. You’ve poured every ounce of blood, sweat, tears, and passion you have into your business. This is your baby! The fear of not being in control of every little detail and worrying that something is going to go wrong is real.

However, hiring employees requires letting go. 

It’s a simple concept, but not necessarily easy to do. But in order to experience the rewards of hiring a team though, you must learn to let go and trust your team to do their jobs. Practice letting go and soon it’ll become second nature!

If you’re not prepared to let go and allow your team to do the job you hired them to do, then hiring might not be right for you.

Hiring Requires Leadership

If you’re like many of our clients, you’ve never been in a management or leadership position before. So, it makes sense that you might not know exactly what to expect as a new leader.

While the internet gurus would have you believe that hiring is easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy, it’s a bit more complex than that. As I mentioned earlier, hiring and leading a team is one of the most rewarding experiences you’ll have when growing your business. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy.

One thing that’s really important to us here at SproutHR is that we value transparency. I’m not going to sugarcoat things for you, because doing so can negatively impact so many lives, including yours and the people you hire.

Let’s take a look at a few things you’ll be responsible for when hiring employees (in no particular order), so you can get a good idea of what to expect:

• Paying your team consistently, accurately, and on time

• Following required federal and state employment laws

• Sharing the big vision for your company and why behind decisions

• Helping your team set and reach business goals

• Delegating and managing tasks, assignments, and responsibilities

• Setting and maintaining clear, fair, and consistent expectations

• Holding your team accountable and following up as needed

• Ensuring a safe and legally compliant workplace

• Rewarding and recognizing your team’s efforts and contributions

• Handling interpersonal conflict, concerns, and/or complaints

• Providing regular feedback (positive and constructive) with each team member

• Leading your team through change, difficult situations, and adversity

• Making sure each team member is heard, seen, and feels respected

• Owning your part in the problems or challenges your team is experiencing

• Stepping into your role as a leader rather than a do-it-all worker

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s a very good start. When you understand what hiring and leading a team will require from you, you’ll be much more prepared and will save yourself a ton of headaches and sleepless nights.

If you’re not willing to commit to stepping fully into your leadership role, then hiring might not be right for you.

Final Word

I realize that this article may have stepped on your toes a bit. My goal was to provide you with some different thoughts and insights about hiring employees and encourage you to pause and consider whether or not hiring is right for you...right now or in the future.

Instead of thinking that you should hire a team because that’s what the “experts” say, I encourage you to ask yourself these 3 questions and consider your own responses instead: 

• Am I ready to make the commitment needed to hire employees?

• Am I prepared to let go and allow my employees to do the jobs I hire them to do?

• Am I willing to learn and grow as a leader, including owning my new role?

While you might not fully grasp all that will be required of you to lead a team until you’re in the middle of it (it’s rare that anyone does), you can better prepare yourself by taking time to consider your new responsibilities and fully commit to them before hiring your first employee. 

Your future team will thank you for (and you’ll both benefit from) taking the time to step back, reflect, and prepare for this important new role!

Authored by Ashley Cox, PHR, SHRM-CP