Shouldn’t the decision to expand a team of employees be something to celebrate? Increased hiring happens because of increased business, and yet, many companies have arduous experiences going through the hiring process. Unplanned costs often create friction during hiring and onboarding. As a result, business leaders scramble to support new employees, causing delays.
Business owners who have an organized plan for hiring costs avoid these troubles in onboarding and retaining new employees. Technology is often one of the biggest expenses when hiring new employees. Therefore, planning these costs in advance helps businesses avoid unexpected challenges.
By planning for these five costs, businesses can simplify hiring and onboarding. As a result, team growth becomes a sign of success rather than another challenge.
Computers and equipment
This is the most obvious cost for many businesses, but it can also be surprisingly expensive. Depending on the role a new hire fills, you may need to buy a new desktop, laptop, headset, mobile device or workstation.
Some industries will also have higher computer cost needs than others. For example, certain manufacturing, architecture or engineering programs need powerful graphics processors. Running them on less-capable hardware sets employees up to fail.
Software and licenses
Recurring software costs are one of the most reliable budget items on a spreadsheet. You know what tools your employees use and renew them as long as they’re valuable. This line item is so reliable, however, that it can be easy to forget how many little pieces make up that monthly expense.
$20 per month here and $30 per year there can add up when bringing a new hire into your processes and tools. Building an itemized list of every recurring software expense a new employee would need protects you from being blindsided by a jump in expenses from one month to the next.
Accounts, access and security
Physical and electronic security are costs, but unlike the ones above, getting them wrong could have more serious consequences than frustration or lost productivity. Build the following procedures now. They keep onboarding safe and efficient, and they preserve the zero-trust principles your security should already follow:
- Accounts: Create secure logins for password managers, cloud servers and more with password resets upon login for security.
- Access: Configure keycards, fobs or other physical access technologies required for employees to access the office without relying on borrowed or inconsistent, temporary credentials.
- Security: Prepare cybersecurity training materials so new employees follow best practices as soon as they are onboarded.
IT setup and support
If you’re partnered with a full-time IT service provider or have internal IT staff, the labor costs of setting up all of the above may not be clearly defined in a budget, but they are a cost. Any use of time, even time already paid for through contracted support time or regular salary, is a cost.
When you’re hiring and onboarding multiple employees in a short period of time, the time and labor costs of this setup can pull resources from existing projects or require additional spending on hourly or contracted support.
You can’t just budget for the parts.
Budgeting for the support that keeps processes going prevents operations from stalling on days where new hires are introduced to the team.
Technology growth over time
One employee isn’t going to require an overhaul of your network, cabling or storage plan. Ten employees, though? That could become an issue.
The problem is that most businesses aren’t hiring 10+ people in the same week. Even rapid growth is incremental and can creep up on your operations. Knowing ahead of time how many employees will require additional servers or a reworking of IT support needs keeps you from adding too much personnel weight to processes that can’t support it.
In the same way that you can’t cram 30 employees into a 10-desk office, understanding at what point your headcount requires tech changes lets you know long before a new employee joins if you need to start thinking about upgrades.
How to prepare for these issues
Getting ahead of hiring and onboarding tech costs is all about preparation. These tech questions need a seat at the leadership table so everyone understands what it means when deciding to bring new talent to your team.
Building these questions into leadership discussions is the first step, but having an experienced IT service provider can keep your processes accountable so these tech concerns don’t fall by the wayside.
To start planning for these IT costs, schedule a 10-minute discovery call with us so we can analyze how your tech integrates with your current staff and how to prepare for future growth.