If you are an SME, your people are your business.
However, finding the right employees is one of the toughest yet crucial aspects of any business. Research studies show that approximately 79% of businesses struggle to find the right people. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a combination between a high number of people quitting their jobs and a booming demand, meaning many industries are experiencing labor shortages.
The scramble for talent by different companies has seen companies relentlessly recruit and make recommendations such as increasing salaries and having flexible work set-ups to get workers.
There has also been a war for retention, with approximately 69% of UK workers ready to move. Most employees cite reasons such as stressful working environments, lack of career growth opportunities, and lack of appreciation for moving. The demand for talent has also been affected by reasons such as:
- Democracy– With technology such as social media, an employer’s reputation is very transparent; nothing is unknown or concealed anymore.
- Demography– Despite the global population rising to 7 billion, the availability of skilled workers is shrinking.
- Discernment– People are becoming keener on their places of employment by considering factors such as inclusion, corporate responsibility, and diversity.
The above mentioned issues may affect your business negatively since you may lose talented employees, affecting productivity and profits consequently. Additionally, it is expensive since you must consider several costs, including hiring, onboarding, training, and developmental costs.
Why Most SMEs Struggle to Hire and Retain Great Talents
According to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report, the biggest challenge facing many SMEs globally is talent acquisition and retention. Here’s why:
Competition With Big Companies to Attract Talent
The fact is SMEs compete with big businesses with high salaries and incentives to attract great talent. Most SME brands are not widely known and don’t have a budget to put up attractive offers like big businesses. As a result, it becomes difficult for them to win great minds and talents in the job market.
Not Having a Good Hiring Process
You need to have a good hiring process to get an ideal candidate for a job. In most cases, SME owners and managers do everything by themselves, which makes them overwhelmed and with little or no time to go through CVs, doing proper background checks and holding multiple interviews.
Additionally, SMEs that wish to hire recruitment teams are not aware of the best. Failure to know the needed hiring expertise results in a lot of time and resource wastage and losing out on many good talents.
Settling For a Less Ideal Candidate
After completing the hiring process, every employer hopes to get a good candidate. However, due to a shortage of advertisement funds or lack of a proper hiring process, SMEs may end up with less ideal candidates as mentioned above. Hiring the wrong candidates results in a waste of time, resources, and low productivity.
Inability to Maintain Valued Employees
Unfortunately, many SMEs are unable to maintain their good employees for various reasons, including lack of career development, frustrations, or overworking. The truth is many cannot raise salaries soon or take employees for multiple training sessions, making them look for other job opportunities.
Strategies To Land Top Talent
Fortunately, there are solutions to almost every problem SMEs face when trying to attract and retain great talents. Although it may appear tough, SMEs have several distinct advantages they can use to attract top talent. They include:
Develop a Strong Culture of Community and Appreciation
As an SME, you want potential employees and clients to feel you care about your people and the community. Therefore, having a strong social conscience is key. For instance, CEOs such as Tim Allan of Apple have signed the Business Roundtable CEO Pledge of Social Responsibility. This pledge focuses on environmental outcomes and their employees’ mental, physical, and emotional health.
Note that healthy and well-compensated workers are more productive, positively impacting your business’s bottom line.
Develop a Career Map for Your Business
Reviewing career maps with your employees often helps them develop their goals and achievement plans. Remember, successful employees translate into a successful business. Alternatively, you can develop a profit-sharing program where employees participate in the business’s overall success. Direct involvement will help great talents offer their best for their success and that of their colleagues.
Be Upfront About Your Expectations
When conducting interviews, be very candid about your expectations and requirements. Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean adopting a stern attitude when conducting the interviews. Instead, it means letting them know that you value their skills and would want them to use them in a certain way for personal and organizational growth.
Create a Flexible Working Environment
Recruiting top talent requires you to trust them with flexibility when in the office, fieldwork, or at home. Grant them the time and space to strategize and determine what works best for them.
How To Position Your Job Openings for That Right Person
As mentioned, one of the primary challenges SMEs face is hiring the right people. No company wishes to hire the wrong people, but it happens. To position your job openings for the right person, consider applying the below principles.
Assess Your Company’s Culture
You need to know what your company needs to recruit the right people. What are your mission and values? What mindset are you looking for? What individuals fit in? Always have a bigger picture in mind when looking for potential clients and use the above aspects to rate them.
Create a Detailed Job Description
Many SMEs have difficulty hiring the right talent because they lack a clear idea of what employees should do. To avoid this, create job descriptions for every position in your business, stating responsibilities, experience level, and skills needed. Ensure you’ve communicated clearly to the candidates during the interview.
Prepare Well-structured Interviews
Do you have an evaluation scorecard for grading and comparing candidates’ performance based on criteria? If Not, you’ll need to prepare one. It is advisable to use behavioral-based techniques such as inviting the candidates to explain how they have handled certain challenges in their previous workplaces.
Look Beyond The CV
Remember, the best-qualified interviewee on paper may not be the best fit for your job. Ask the candidates about their dreams, ambitions, and interests. If their dream is to work for big companies and brands, they might have a problem working for a small firm or SME.
Ask for References
References remain the best ways to confirm information about a candidate. You can also consider doing private research from people who’ve previously worked or interacted with the candidate.
Bring Them Onboard
After recruiting them, you need to buy them in with a solid orientation program. You can also take them through training or pair them up with a more experienced staff to mentor or coach them during their first days at work.
Recruit and Retain the Best Talent in Your Organization
The business world continues to be increasingly competitive, and as an organization, you need to hire and retain the best talent. If you’re a general manager or HR, consider following the above principles when recruiting new talent in your organization.