Although rapid business growth is generally a marker of success, it can also present companies with many obstacles. And with changes happening so quickly, spotting the potential pitfalls is not always easy.
In this online guide, we assess how different teams within your organization can navigate rapid company growth. You’ll find tips and advice on how everyone – from leadership to HR and employees - can help scale your business without missing a beat.
To learn more, you can read the guide below or download it for free in an all-in-one PDF.
Your organization’s leaders will be the first line of defense in protecting what you’ve built against scaling up too quickly. With the below leadership tips, you can help your managers and C-suite executives alike handle your company’s rapid growth.
For additional support, find out how a solution like Change Management Consulting can help your organization confidently handle this large-scale transition.
Your company is experiencing success. That’s great! But do you know why you’re growing so quickly?
An effective strategy for managing rapid business growth is to better understand what you’re doing well – so that you can keep doing it. And one of the best ways to assess your strengths is to pull insight from the people who are most involved with your products and services – the ones who are buying and selling.
To start, ask your customers for their thoughts once they’ve purchased from you. You can kindly request a rating out of 10 and see if they have any additional feedback.
Similarly for employees, try sending out regular surveys asking your team to share their experiences with your products, services, and customers. This could be weekly, monthly, or quarterly. It's also important to allow individuals to respond anonymously to ensure that you capture both positive and constructive feedback.
Online services can make it easy for you to create surveys, forms, and gather intel from your customer base and team members.
Here are a few survey tools for you to consider:
Once you’ve gathered your feedback, sit down with your management team and evaluate the responses. As you sift through the data, you should be able to identify commonalities that point to the reason for your recent growth.
For example, look for themes in your feedback like:
After you’ve determined what sets you apart from your competitors, it’ll be up to your leadership team to make sure that any changes going forward won’t undermine your strengths as a business.
If you don’t already have core values for your company, now’s the time to determine the principles that will guide your organization.
You should view your company core values as the heartbeat of your business. They should inspire and resonate with your product offerings and employees. For example, core values can help your organization:
At Outback Team Building & Training, we live by six core values. Each one helps our team navigate day-to-day business decisions and deliver work that we can be proud of. They are:
Learn how you and your leadership team can create your own set of values by reading our blog post: Creating Your Company Core Values in 5 Easy Steps.
Tracking and forecasting your operating budget is extremely important to the success of an expanding business. And yet, many growing companies decide to quickly move forward with one very large expense: hiring more people. Before you jump to the conclusion that you need more bodies, however, check in with your leaders to evaluate if there may be more fiscally responsible options.
For example, why not review the accountabilities of each member of your team? Instead of taking on the burden of additional salaries, you could first consider giving current employees smaller monetary bumps and promotions in exchange for more responsibility.
This strategy not only helps your business shave costs, it can also help individuals further their career goals and remain loyal to your company. Win-win!
Here are some examples by department:
With rapid business growth, it can be easy to get caught up in simply maintaining your organization as it expands. But don’t forget about the most critical part of the entrepreneurial puzzle: your customers.
As mentioned above, one of the best ways to keep a pulse on customer sentiments as you grow is by asking for feedback. However, simply gathering their input isn’t enough. Just as important is evaluating that feedback and identifying areas where you can improve.
On a regular basis, you and your leadership team should gather your constructive feedback and meet to discuss. Determine where you could make adjustments to address any common frustrations or issues.
Try creating a database of customer feedback to make it easier for you to efficiently review responses. For example, you could ask your customer support team to place all responses into a spreadsheet, listing off the following:
Consider keeping your database in a cloud-based platform like Smartsheet or SharePoint, so that it’s easy for multiple people within your organization to access and edit the list at any time.
Just because something has worked in the past, doesn’t mean it always will in the future. As your business grows, it’s important to acknowledge that the old ways won’t always be the only ways.
Work together with your team to identify areas of operation that are absolutely set in stone and processes that are flexible to change. From the start, it’s important to ensure that everyone is aligned and understands what can and can’t be adaptable as your company grows.
You can even make an official document outlining your organizations systems and processes, so that there isn’t any uncertainty or grey areas. For example, you could evaluate your company’s:
As you meet with your leaders throughout the year, refer to the document on a consistent basis to ensure that everyone is still on the same page. Set aside time at least every quarter to evaluate processes that need to be altered due to growth and update them as needed.
Many of the critical aspects of a growing business are handled by HR departments. But with so many changes happening all at once, it can be overwhelming to keep day-to-day operations in check.
In this section, our HR team shares some of the best practices that can help you manage rapid growth with ease.
When you are an organization of three, six, or even 10, you may not trouble yourself too much with documenting company policies and procedures. As you expand, however, it’s imperative that you have structures in place to guide your growing operation.
Before sharing with employees, try to envision how these policies will look as your organization adds more and more people. What can be trusted to a few team members, may not work for 50 to 100 employees.
Policies that you may want to cover include:
One of the most effective ways to create policies that can evolve with your business is to build them using online platforms. Here are a couple software tools that our team recommends:
As mentioned in Part One, when your company is rapidly growing, you may feel pressure to add more people to your team – immediately.
But with the cost of a bad hire ringing in at a minimum of 30% of the employee’s first-year earnings, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, it’s imperative that you take your time and do it right.
Here are four things you can do to help your company hire strategically and find the right candidate:
Unsure of how to incorporate your core values into your interview process without blatantly stating them? Below are a couple of examples for inspiration:
According to SHRM, 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experience good onboarding. And organizations with a standard onboarding process see 50% greater new-hire productivity.
Below are a few ways that you can build an effective onboarding system:
Quickly growing your company can be a turbulent experience for existing employees. Specifically, it can be difficult for teams to maintain efficiency, productivity, and your organization’s culture when adding new policies and faces to the mix.
So, how can you help your employees navigate the growing pains of a rapid expansion? Here are three tactics you can use to support your team members.
Offering your group the chance to take part in team building activities can help existing employees get to know new hires faster. It gives coworkers the opportunity to strengthen relationships away from their desks, which can result in a more productive dynamic back at the office.
For example, many team building activities include elements that can help participants:
Here are the top activities for corporate groups that our team recommends:
When going through any large-scale change, it’s important to let your employees know that they can approach leadership or HR with any questions.
Here are a few strategies you can use to ensure that your team knows they can bring any concerns forward:
If your business is struggling with effective communication, our team recommends a training and development program like Clear Communication.
As your business grows, there’s bound to be accountabilities that your employees don't have the skillset for.
It may take a few months for new hires to be fully trained up in their roles. Existing employees may lack expertise in certain areas. Or leaders may be overwhelmed with new responsibilities and larger teams to manage.
Any of these situations can be frustrating for your team. Nobody wants their performance to suffer. Especially, due to circumstances outside of their control - like rapid business growth.
Try supporting your employees by bridging knowledge gaps with training and development programs. Your team may benefit from any of the following:
It can be exciting when your company begins to expand. But during periods of rapid business growth, it’s important to support your entire organization.
Using the right tactics, leadership teams, HR departments, and employees can all play a part in ensuring that your business successfully navigates this important transition.
Has your organization experienced rapid business growth? Share your experience with us in the comments below.
Don’t forget to download your free copy of How to Manage Rapid Business Growth for an all-in-one, printable PDF of the above resources. You can also reach out to an Employee Engagement Consultant for even more insight on team building and training solutions.