Some hiring decisions are simple. Do you need a website overhaul? It’s time to hire a UX/UI designer! Pretty straightforward. However, I noticed that agencies struggle to know when to hire an operations manager. Often the duties seem vague and the value is misunderstood. So today’s blog will take a look at what the role entails and how to know you’re ready to hire your next ops team member!

Not sure if you’re in the right place? All readers are welcome here. This blog will specifically touch on the business decisions faced by agency owners with teams of 40 people or less. If this sounds like you or you’re just curious, read on!

The overall role encompasses the following areas: 

• Overseeing financials. This includes oversight of bookkeeping/financial reporting, accounts receivable, accounts payable, budgeting, invoicing, and building/analyzing your agency’s financial metrics. 

• Team management. Guiding culture within the organization and carving out best practices and infrastructure for managing the team. 

• Recruiting and hiring. Overseeing end to end recruitment and hiring process. From candidate outreach to onboarding new hires.

• Management of HR, benefits and company liabilities. Ensuring processes are in place to protect the company from liability issues around employees, contractors, and day to day running of the business.

• Process documentation. Documenting, optimizing processes and infrastructure across the organization. 

• Tool optimization. Analyzing the organization’s use of tools and helping to create optimal workflows around them.

• Resource awareness and support. Ensuring the team has the resources to get work done. This is a catch-all duty that covers all things people, materials, equipment, office space, and all the other resources folks need to do good work.

• Special projects in order to meet the organization’s goals. These ad hoc duties arise when the company needs someone who can get shit done! 

So we get what an operations manager might typically do. But how do you know if the time is right for you to hire one? Here’s a couple situations where an operations manager is right for you:

• If there are multiple people handling the responsibilities listed above, it might be more efficient to have a dedicated person(s) handle it. Having these responsibilities spread across multiple roles can cause split focus and prevent people from doing their best work. 

• You’re an owner and are still handling many of the daily operations tasks. It will be a more effective use of your time if you’re in your zone of genius instead of handling operations responsibilities. 

• You’ve got a team in place who are starting to handle these things, but they need a boost in training geared toward agency-specific knowledge.

• Your company’s been running with tools, processes, and infrastructure, but you’re not sure why things are the way they are. The company needs a bit of a face lift! 

In all of the above scenarios, you’ll want to make sure you’ve done an assessment to make sure that you can invest in a non-billable resource for your agency. Keep reading for your various options and keep in mind what you’re able to afford financially.

Great Next Steps: 

• Hire an operations manager!

• If multiple people are splitting responsibilities, consolidate the role so that fewer people (or one person) are handling. This will streamline all those to-do lists.

• Invest in training for your existing ops person. There are books, podcasts, classes, conferences, workshops, and outside consultants all dedicated to the industry.

If you’re feeling stuck as you try to think through what this means for your organization, feel free to reach out to us at WeConsult. We regularly help bridge the gap for agencies that need help with any of the above! Let us help clear the path so you can build the agency of your dreams.