There's nothing like the excitement that comes from realising that your small business is growing. It's been so tough for a lot of companies in the last couple of years that this is a massive achievement. There are going to be a lot of thrilling new opportunities, from new areas to explore to new talent to bring on board. There are also going to be a lot of bigger responsibilities and new issues vying for your attention.

However, it's just as important to make sure that you don't lose sight of your existing responsibilities. One of the hardest aspects of any expansion process is ensuring that everything continues to tick over as it should while you are overseeing new business duties. Staff morale and engagement have been much discussed in recent months. But being a good boss is about giving your team the tools they need to get the job done too. If your employees aren't working at their best, then your business will grind to a halt.

Keep Your Employees In The Loop About Growth

When people don't feel included in the success of the company they work for then they're not going to be motivated to keep pushing. It's one thing to tell your staff that it's an exciting time for the business. It's another to make them feel like they are a part of it. So, if your business is expanding and looking at growing into some new areas, it's so important that you set some time aside to break down what that means for your team. Explain how what they have done has allowed the company to grow, and what your hopes are for this next period. If there's anything that you're anxious about, don't be afraid to tell them. If there are new opportunities that may open up for your employees, let them know.

Offer Training Where You Can

Speaking of new opportunities, one of the main elements of any business' growth is going to be bringing on new team members to help carry the load. This is obviously going to be an exciting moment for you as you get to add some new skillsets and new personalities. But if you want to keep your team morale high and keep your valued existing employees invested, think carefully about where they might fit in. You should lay out the kinds of skills that you are going to be looking for and talk to your staff about whether they would be interested in learning some new tools. It's also a chance for you to give some of your team members some more responsibility and show them that they are trusted, valued members of your business.

Give Your Team The Tools They Need To Work More Efficiently

Growing as a business is not just going to give you more jobs to think about. The chances are that your team will have a lot more work to deal with, and they may need to be collaborating with more people. It's important that you keep looking for ways that you can support them to work quickly and efficiently. If it has been a while since you last updated your work computers, think about setting some cash aside for upgrades. But it doesn't need to be as drastic as giving everyone a new MacBook. Take PDFs, for example. Sending and receiving large documents is the kind of thing that may not look like a major irritation on paper, but it can add unnecessary stress and complication at an already tough time. With a PDF compressor, you can reduce the file size quickly and easily at no expense to the quality of the file. That means that you and your team can share your PDFs quickly and compress them to a file size of your choosing. Visit Small PDF to find out more about compressing and converting PDFs and much more.

Keep Looking For Ways To Learn

Some entrepreneurs are born to be people managers. They have the communication skills from the moment they first step foot in an office. But it's not as easy for everyone. Acknowledging that you need to work on your people management is no bad thing, and there are plenty of ways that you can learn. More and more universities and learning institutions are offering online courses and qualifications that can be fitted around your daily responsibilities. It will be a sacrifice in terms of time for you to take up some additional learning, but it can only serve you in good stead in the long run.

Prioritise Employee Mental Health

There has been so much written about mental health over the last few years that you'd be forgiven for thinking that everyone was on top of it by this point. However, burnout continues to be a major issue for a huge number of people. It doesn't help that things are so tough outside of the workplace, with people being forced to make some horribly tough choices when it comes to heating and food. So, it's important to remember that your staff isn't just going to shake off everything that's happening at home when they log on for the day. You need to think about what more you could be doing to support them. Encourage everyone to sign off for the day on time, and to ask if they need some extra time or assistance.

You could also think about adding mental health benefits to your employee perk package. It's particularly important to think about this if your team is working remotely or hybrid. While the numbers have shown that a lot of people would rather work in this way, it is easy for people to start to feel isolated. And you should also make sure to celebrate achievements at work. If there has been a big win, or if someone has been putting the hard work in without a lot of fuss, take a moment to congratulate them.