I recall a business I worked with many years ago.  The business was struggling to keep its head above water and we were pinching every penny until it gave up a nickel.  Then one day I got a call from a manager I had worked with before and who i knew to be one of the top producers in his field.  This man gets more work done in eight hours than any other three people I know.  I have literally never seen anyone do half the work this man does.

I gathered the management team around and told them I was going to bring this manager on.  The dissent was huge.  

“Why would you do that when we can’t afford to even pay the bills?” one manager asked.

“Yeah,” said another.  “We’re all worried about losing our jobs because things are so slow and you’re bringing on someone else.  What’s up with that?”

And so it went.  All but one manager expressed their concerns, and the one who didn’t probably had them but chose not to express them.  

This was my response.  “I know you’re concerned.  I know it sounds crazy to bring on another manager when we seem to be top-heavy right now.  But this isn’t just any manager.  You mark my words, within six months, you’ll wonder how we ever stayed in business without him.”

The truth is, I wasn’t even sure what I would have this manager do.  But what I knew for sure was he would come in, carve out a place for himself, and be a catalyst in moving the company forward.  And that’s exactly what happened.  Within weeks he was doing things that should have been done long ago and we were seeing the positive benefits from that.  Within six months every member of the management team who had expressed doubts was now ecstatic we had brought my colleague on board.

The bottom line is, there’s always room for the right employee, no matter what the current circumstances are.  Even when there’s no room, there’s room for the right person.  Of course it’s foolish to bring someone on just to bring them on.  But when you can get that one-in-a-million person, you don’t hesitate.  You grab them.  People like that don’t come along every day.  And the interesting thing to me is, they never seem to come along at a good time.  If you’re out looking for someone, you’ll never happen on to that special person.  They seem to show up at the most in-opportune times.  

But the fact is,  they will pay for themselves (and several other people) from the moment they arrive.  So no matter the circumstances, when the right person comes along, there’s always room for one more.  Of course the trick is recognizing the right person and taking action before it’s too late.