Focus on Employees to Ease Growing Pains When Scaling Your MSP Business

Growth is great. But in any MSP it can also bring challenges – better known as “growing pains”. You’re already constantly running just to keep up with ever-changing technologies, workspace trends, adding cost-effective technical talent, etc. So your business is forever growing to some degree. Right? That’s why they say it’s not about the destination ― because that’s continually changing. It’s about the journey. 

While you should always have a growth mindset, there are times when you realize that the business must scale up. But the growing pains can be tough on your employees, so you want to make them come to work on Monday morning excited about the journey. That’s why you should focus on them during growth periods. 

Improve communication 

Communicate to employees the steps along the scaling journey – the wins and the missteps – during daily “huddle” meetings. This will help improve communications so that no one is left behind. It will also help keep them focused on the vision and the challenges, eliminating surprises. A huddle is a great time to celebrate even the smallest wins. And the missteps? Let employees know that failure means you’re learning and making progress. 

Have effective feedback loops from clients and your employees. The huddles are a good time to listen to that feedback. This allows everyone to contribute and learn. 

Always review any changes you’ve implemented to determine if they’re working. Not everything will. Be nimble so that when something doesn’t work the business and your staff are flexible enough to maneuver in a different direction. Don’t be afraid to be innovative. Your employees will respect you for having the courage to try. 

Grow your employees 

While the company is growing, keep your employees growing, too. Invest time in them. Provide them with quality online leadership training and technology education. Send them to industry conferences. IT By Design offers courses and a terrific annual conference that I would encourage you to consider for your team (Yes, some shameless self-promotion!). Remember: You gain when you help others. 

Here are some other ways to grow your employees while scaling the business: 

• When a lower-tiered worker encounters a ticket for an issue they don’t know how to resolve and must escalate, have them shadow the ticket to learn from a more experienced engineer.  

• Assign select employees to be the business’ “trusted advisor” for others to confidently approach when they need assistance with a business-related issue. These “big brothers” and “big sisters” will create a more family-friendly workplace that your employees will enjoy – especially during the growing pains. 

• Have personal conversations with your staff. Create career roadmaps for each one to determine how satisfied they are with their roles and where they want to be in the future. These intimate conversations will help you identify which employees are there just to do their jobs and which ones are a part of the growth and leadership of the organization. 

• Scaling means you’ll probably have to recruit new employees. When doing so, it’s critical to conduct background checks for criminal history, education, etc. so that you’re choosing quality candidates. Also helpful are personality tests that identify certain profiles for specific roles. Having the right individual in roles that are directly impacted during scaling periods will help ease the growing pains. 

Growing your MSP business can be exciting and challenging. But if you engage your employees enough, they’ll help get you through the growing pains. This way, everyone can enjoy and learn from the journey.