You've heard that a good hire pays for themselves. That's true, eventually. It skips the first few weeks, when the bill for getting that person productive arrives, and much of that bill is technology nobody wrote on a spreadsheet.
I hold an MBA with a specialty in accounting, so I'll say this plainly: a cost you didn't budget for is still a cost. It just shows up as a surprise instead of a line item. Hiring should feel like good news, and it will if you've priced these five things before the offer goes out.
1. The equipment
Laptop, desktop, headset, mobile device, workstation. Which ones a new hire needs depends on the role, and the price spread is wider than most people expect. Someone running design, engineering or architecture software needs real graphics horsepower, and putting them on a basic machine sets them up to fail.
My suggestion: decide on a standard equipment package for each role you hire for, and write it down. When an offer goes out, the purchase order should go out with it.
2. Software and licenses
Recurring software is the most predictable part of the budget, which is exactly why it gets underestimated. Nobody forgets the big platforms. It's the $20 a month here and the $30 a year there that add up.
The simplest fix I know: take a current employee in the same role and list every tool they open in a normal week. That list, with prices attached, is your software cost for the new hire.
3. Accounts, access and security
This is the one cost where a mistake can do more damage than a delay. Three things to settle before day one:
- Accounts. Set up logins for the password manager, cloud systems and everything else the job touches, with a forced password reset at first sign-in.
- Access. Have keycards, fobs or whatever opens your doors ready on the first morning, so nobody works on borrowed or temporary credentials.
- Security. Have security awareness training ready before the new hire touches company email, not after.
After three decades in security, the habit I'd push hardest is simple: give a new person access to what the job requires and nothing beyond it, and never let anyone "borrow a login for the first week."
4. IT setup and support time
If you have an IT provider or in-house IT staff, setting up everything above takes someone's time. Time you've already paid for, through salary or a support contract, is still a cost, even when it never appears as its own line. That's true of us as well.
Onboard several people in a short window and that time has to come from somewhere: delayed projects, or extra hourly support. Budget for the person doing the setup, not just the equipment.
5. Growth over time
One new hire won't force you to rethink your network, cabling or storage. Ten might. Growth is usually gradual, so it's easy to miss the point where the infrastructure stops keeping up.
Find that point now. Ask your IT provider at what headcount your current servers, network and support arrangement start to strain, so the answer arrives before the hires do.
Put technology in the hiring conversation
These costs belong in the same meeting where you decide to hire, not in a cleanup email afterward. Someone in that room should be able to answer one question: what will this person need on day one, and what will it cost?
If you're planning to add people in the next year, book a 15-minute discovery call with us. We'll look at how your current technology handles the team you have today and what your next few hires would require. We don't price anything before we've seen your environment, so the call is where that starts.
Dean Lause | CEO, Argentum IT
Argentum IT — Veteran Owned and Run
