How to Ask Your Boss for More Staff

This post was originally published on Aug. 25, 2014, and updated on June 28, 2024.

Time to read: 5 minutes

How to Ask Your Boss for More Staff

Summary of How to Ask for Staff:

• Data-Driven Approach: Present evidence of your workload and challenges to justify the need for additional resources.
• Collaborative Solution: Suggest how a new hire or outsourced help can fill gaps, aligning the proposal with company goals.
• Professional Communication: Frame your request positively, focusing on how added support will benefit the team and company​.

When your workload exceeds your job duties or stress levels, those are indicators that it is time to speak up and ask for more resources. However, easier said than done. There are certain steps to follow when talking to your manager about your need for additional resources at work.

Preparing to Ask for More Resources and New Employees

Follow these rules on how to convince your boss of your needs when you meet, and discuss the potential of bringing a new person on board.

Be Transparent

Many of the top marketing jobs include a range of daily assignments, from simple data input to outlining strategic initiatives. It can quickly become overwhelming. While you feel the unmanageability of your workload, senior leadership most likely has no idea. Be it the extent of your to-do list or the challenges that go into each item, your boss needs a clear explanation of why you are feeling overwhelmed. However, the key here is to be direct and neutral in your delivery. By “attacking” or “storming” your boss for more resources, you run the risk of receiving the same attitude and response – and worse, a big, huge “no.” Instead, try listing out your weekly objectives and tying timestamps to each of them. Once your tasks are laid out as a schedule, your manager has a clearer view of your workload. From here, you begin to build the case for adding resources and/or hiring a new employee.

Discuss Your Job Duties

Over time, your job duties may have become different or evolve from the ones you were originally hired to perform. For instance, maybe you were hired as a digital marketing analyst, but your duties reflect those of a digital marketing director. Changes in duties often are a result of the progress of the position and industry, but also the size of the company plays an important factor. Schedule a meeting with your boss to review how your current duties are against what has changed and have a conversation about how these changes should be handled. Take this as a positive conversation. You and your boss are looking at how your position has grown, and with that, it might be time to grow the team.

Identify Key Obstacles

Do you keep running into the same issues within the same tasks? If so, make note of this. Think of approval processes or managing tedious tasks. Additionally, think about how smoothly (or not smoothly) projects run. Despite the issue, this is something to bring up to senior leadership when reaching out for additional resources. The more repetitive the issue, the more likely it is to be appropriately resolved.

Outline New Hire Responsibilities

You have discovered opportunities for additional resources. You have identified the obstacles. You have even listed out where your position has grown. Now is the time to outline the new position to hire. Start by listing out four to five key responsibilities and initiatives this new hire will manage. Be clear about this new hire’s mark for the business and the bottom line. This will further validate the costs taken on with hiring a new employee and support the onboarding of additional resources in the department.

How to Convince Your Boss to Enlist a Staffing Agency

While it may become apparent you need more resources and quite possibly additional headcount, many employers are hesitant to hire new employees on account of the hiring and recruitment process. Enlisting a staffing agency, especially one that specializes in your field, will help alleviate the headaches and stress that come with hiring new employees. Depending on the newly outlined workload as well as budget, keep in mind an intern could be the short-term solution while the company and department prepare to fully grow the team.

Contact Profiles to discuss how our specialist marketing and creative tech recruiters can help effectively build your team and take the burden of hiring of your hands!