Too Much Work? Too Little Staff? Or Ineffective Processes?

Too Much Work? Too Little Staff?

Or Ineffective Processes?

"We need an extra person, because we can’t handle the workload anymore!"
It’s often the first reflex when a team or department feels under pressure. Workload increases, frustration rises, and the solution seems simple: post a vacancy, bring in an interim professional, or hire a temp.

But is that really the right solution?

The Uncomfortable Conversation

As soon as you ask whether the workload is truly too much, friction often arises. Nobody likes to hear that their department might not be working efficiently enough. Yet, that’s often the core of the problem.

Many roles are never benchmarked. There’s no comparison of what “normal” output should be, let alone an in-depth look at processes and tools.

Case 1: Accounts Payable

An accounts payable department complains: “We can’t manage anymore, we need more people.”
Logical reflex: HR steps in, a vacancy is posted, and hopefully reinforcements arrive soon.

But ask the question: How many invoices do you actually process per year?
The benchmark is about 5,000 invoices per FTE. That sounds high, but do the math:

• 5,000 invoices per year = 100 per week

• 100 per week = 20 per day

• 20 invoices per day, with well-designed processes, takes less than an hour

The conclusion: the problem is not capacity, but inefficient processes or systems.

Case 2: Sales & Quotations

A sales department complains: “We’re overloaded, we need extra people to prepare quotes!”

But in practice, you often find:

• Quotes are rebuilt from scratch each time in Word or Excel

• No library of standard texts or prices exists

• Managers must approve everything manually

• Documents are scattered via email

The result: even a simple quote takes hours to prepare.

With a well-configured CRM or ERP system—including templates, product libraries, and automated workflows—the same quote can be created and sent in 10 minutes. No extra staff needed; working smarter is enough.

Case 3: Customer Service

Customer service reports: “Wait times are going up, we need to expand!”

But analysis shows:

• 30% of inquiries are about forgotten passwords

• 20% are about order status

• 15% are about simple invoice questions

All of these can be solved easily with self-service portals, FAQs, automated status emails, or chatbots. By organizing this smartly, half of customer inquiries disappear—and you quickly save the equivalent work of several FTEs.

The Common Thread

Extra capacity may provide short-term relief, but the structural problem remains—and often grows. The more people you add to an inefficient process, the more complex and slower it becomes.

What does work?

1. Benchmark your processes – know what normal output per FTE should be.

2. Analyze the bottlenecks – where is most time being lost?

3. Digitize and automate – use technology to eliminate repetitive tasks.

4. Engage employees – they often know exactly where the pain points lie.

Conclusion

Before you automatically reach for more staff, ask yourself:
👉 Is this really a capacity problem, or do we have a process problem?