Before your next hire, examine the work.

A busy week can make another hire feel like the obvious answer. Before recruiting, look at which work is creating the pressure. Is it recurring customer demand, avoidable rework, unclear responsibility or a task that should no longer exist?

List the activities that consume the most time. Separate work that needs judgement from work that needs a consistent process. This often reveals whether the business needs a specialist, better coordination or a simpler way to deliver.

Write the outcome of the role before its task list. Someone responsible for customer onboarding needs a clear definition of a successful handover, access to the right information and an escalation path. A long list of miscellaneous duties does not provide that clarity.

A useful hiring brief connects the role to the customer and to the rest of the team. It explains what the person can decide, what support they will have and how their contribution will be reviewed. Hiring becomes a considered growth decision rather than a reaction to a difficult week.