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First off, do you really need to hire someone?

Many times, a new hire is replacing someone who left, or you have an opening available in your budget, so you feel you have to fill the spot. You need to carefully examine exactly what you need before hiring someone. Being overstaffed can cause boredom, and even worry, because of the reduced workload. When there is little work to do, there is more of a possibility of future layoffs.

You might even be asked from the team to hire some more help, but the solution is not necessarily to throw more bodies into the mix, but to re-examine processes and procedures that are in place. It is up to you, and expected of you as manager, to determine this conundrum. When you do not replace an employee just because they left, which is sometimes part of an acceptable attrition rate, you might just be doing everyone a favor, not to mention less cost to the company thus higher profit. You might even be able to shift the current responsibilities to another department. Keep all of this in mind when thinking about filling a new or existing position.

Only fill the position if truly needed. It‘s understandable that you might feel if you do not hire someone right away, you will lose that position forever. This is quite common, but you have to weigh out the pros and cons. One pro is you will have another employee under your belt, thus a better chance to hit the goals. One con is you are costing the company more money, thus your management skills might be in question. Create a list, think about it very carefully, and then make your choice.