When To Hire A VP of Operations

 

The job of a VP of Operations is to handle the day-to-day execution and administration of a business.

The primary purpose of hiring a VP of Operations is to help everyone in the organization maximize their time and efficiency – especially the executive leadership team.

So when should you hire a VP of Operations? Here are four signs that your business is in need of a operations leader.

1. The CEO spends more than 20% of their time managing the day-to-day

Businesses take time to grow, and they take a heck of a lot of time to manage. If the CEO is spending their time managing the day-to-day execution of their business, their peak energy and time is being spent in the wrong place. The CEO is the forefront of the company – not the backend. They are responsible for setting the vision and running the product direction. It’s the polar opposite of what operations leaders focus on. If a CEO can do the math and figure that they are devoting too much time to operations, it may be time to hire a VP of Operations.

2. Recurring revenue is growing

Some organizations look to a VP of Operations to save the day when revenue starts to drop. That’s the opposite of when to hire a VP of Operations. Instead, when there are signs that recurring revenue is growing – that’s the time to bring in an operations leader. That’s when a Vice President of Operations can improve the customer experience and execution of strategy to make sure things continue to skyrocket with a hockey stick growth curve.

3. Your customer service team is getting bogged down

Your customer service team of 2 to 4 people are successful in keeping customers happy with service methods – but they are getting bogged down as the client base grows and their team size stays the same. They’re no longer experimenting with the best way to service a customer. Instead, they’ve developed a method that works and now they just need a leader to help formalize and grow the process in a big way.

That’s when to hire a VP of Operations.

4. When you know who you are, and what works

During the exploratory startup phase, your organization is often redefining themselves and the product. That’s not the time to bring in a VP of Operations. When your organization knows what it stands for and realizes that the foundation won’t support organizational growth – that’s the time to begin your search for someone to lead your operations efforts to help stabilize your processes, policies and procedures.

You might be interested in these other posts about hiring a VP of Operations:
– When to Hire a VP of Operations
– What to Look For in a VP of Operations
– 10 VP of Operations Interview Questions
– What to Pay your VP of Operations
– How To Hire a VP of Operations
What questions do you have about when to hire a VP of Operations? Let us know in the comments.

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