Want to grow your team during a hiring freeze? Invest in Design Systems

When the economy feels like a rollercoaster that you highly regret boarding, it can be hard to think about anything but surviving. Either you’re desperately trying to hire a team when no one (not even recent college grads) is returning your calls. Or you’re staring at payroll spreadsheets knowing that the writing is on the wall. 

Downturns are particularly difficult. And as we hang in mid air waiting to take that gut wrenching plunge, often, the very last thing we’re thinking about is Design Systems. However it’s Design Systems that will not only soften the fall, they’ll get us back on the upswing before our competition.

Growth doesn’t just mean hiring

Just because your headcount has disappeared or, worse, you need to lay off part of your team, doesn’t mean that growth has to stop. In fact, it could mean the opposite. Hiring blindly without the necessary onboarding and support that comes from a Design System can lead towards disorganization and inefficiency at best. At worst, it can contribute towards a culture of tribalism and silos as people figure out how to solve problems on their own.

Slowing down (or even pausing) the hiring process can actually be the perfect opportunity to build up the processes needed to create a truly efficient team. When you do this you’ll find that ‘growth’ can take on a different meaning. ‘Growth’ is no longer simply added headcount, it’s shorter time to market, less tech debt and a better, more cohesive product experience. With Design Systems you can focus on growing your team’s abilities, not just growing its size. And ultimately, that growth is going to give your product an edge over the (likely increased) competition, while avoiding the bloat that comes from hiring too quickly.

Create a culture of resilience and productivity

Downturns aren’t just disruptive for hiring, they’re disruptive for team productivity as well. One study found that workers’ daily stress has reached a record high, increasing from 38% in 2019 to 43% in 2020. Besides the toll on health, stress also cost businesses and the economy trillions in absenteeism, low productivity, and healthcare costs.

In this way, downturns can be a double hit for your company. Not only do they affect hiring and leave teams short staffed, but they create tremendous stress that can kill productivity and collaboration. 

Again, this is where Design Systems can offer a lot of support. Even in times of relative low stress, Design System create the tools and processes that allow cross functional teams to thrive together. Designers and Engineers can speak the same language and are no longer bogged down reinventing wheels. This can ultimately lead towards greater productivity, better communication and, if I’m being honest, happier teams. 

When times are tough, sometimes work culture suffer. People worry about job security and are generally under greater stress. In some cases this can lead towards a growing culture of unhealthy competition and distrust among peers. But Design Systems require people to work together. They require and, ultimately, seed healthy collaboration. In this way Design Systems foster an attitude of creative problem solving encouraging team members to ask each other, “how can we weather this storm together?”

Investing in your team sends a message

When a downturn hits, people turn to leadership to gauge how things are going. They want to know the health of the company and whether their job is safe. If leadership acts calm, they’ll feel calm. If leadership appears to be reacting emotionally (i.e. laying people off at the first sign of trouble), they’re going to justifiably freak out.

Investing in Design Systems sends a message. It says ‘we’re going to invest in the future, and we’re going to do that by supporting our team. Instead of reacting blindly to fear and insecurity, we’re going to make measured decisions and demonstrate maturity during a hard time.’

And while sending a message of solidarity isn’t the primary benefit of investing in Design Systems. I’d save that distinction for more measurable benefits like shorter shipping times and better user experience. It does produce an intangible benefit that is priceless during times of uncertainty. It helps create an attitude of support and collective problem solving that will not only help you survive a downturn, it’ll help you thrive.