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The Emerging Enterprise - Hiring Technical Support
Hiring Technical Support
Tips and rules of engagement. Justifying employees that don't generate revenue.
By Dayna Haberle-Delmonico
A daunting challenge for a smaller business is knowing when they need full-time, in-house technical support. Most SMB's with 100 employees or more already employ at least one technical position on staff, but how do they know when they need to add more? Our own technical staff as well as national service and support guru, Ron Munz, founder and CEO of the HelpDesk Institute or HDI (the industry's professional organization), offer the following tips.
The key is the number of end-users ę those employees that rely on technical systems for their jobs ę whether or NOT they have a PC on they're desk.
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You'd be hard pressed to point to any employee that doesn't rely on technology to get their job done in some fashion or another. So figure every employee is an end-user, and adjust the following numbers accordingly.
The rule of thumb
You need one in-house support person for every 183 end-users according to the most recent survey conducted by the Help-Desk Institute. However that number could be a lot lower for many businesses. In the past the general industry rule was 100:1.
The trick for smaller businesses is to decide which tasks they can successfully outsource at a competitive price. To do this, most small businesses must take the time to identify tasks the enterprise is uniquely qualified to undertake. Initially, it may not be clear which tasks a company should farm out.
Examples of end-users to in-house support staff:
- Up to 100 end-users = 1 technical generalist
- 100 to 200 = i.e. 1 technical manager and 1 entry level hardware/software analyst or technical generalist
- 300 to 500 = i.e. 1 technical director, 1 network manager, 1 hardware specialist, 1 software/ network/helpdesk/training specialist
Justifying The Body
- How many people would you have to employ without any computer technology in-house?
- How much more productive would employees/end-users be versus the in-house salary? Would productivity increase 10%? What does that mean to the company's bottom line?
- Think long-term about the future capabilities of technology and your company growth. Is it more likely you'll add more technology or more company personnel?
Setting Salary
According to the 2002 salary survey conducted by HDI, the average entry-level salary in the US is $33,175.00 for a support employee with 2.4 years of experience and $40,000 for 4.2 years of experience. Salaries vary by area of the country.
The average entry-level salaries by region follow:
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2.4 years experience |
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4.2 years experience |
| East |
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$37,760.00 |
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$44,427.00 |
| Central |
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$30,226.00 |
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$37,591.00 |
| West |
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$36,617.00 |
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$46,167.00 |
Screening Candidates
Once you start the hiring process, candidates should show the following on their ręsumęs.
- Experience should match your current in-house technology
- Certification (like HDI certification)
- Personality - this employee will interface with the majority of employees their communications skills should be stellar.
Information Source - Help Desk Institute (http://www.thinkhdi.com)
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