The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
How SMEs can compete in a tough marketplace
Small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) continue to pack a punch when it comes to business growth and success.
But it’s still a tough market for the recruitment and retention of key employees across all sectors and business size.
As an HR consultancy to SMEs, Align People HR understands the difficulties faced by smaller firms competing with large organisations to attract and retain quality workers.
Without the same level of resources, how can SMEs compete for talent with the big players? It’s about continuing to punch above their weight with people initiatives.
SMEs must focus on retaining key employees and becoming an attractive employer of choice to recruit quality candidates.
They should embrace people initiatives – such as growing a positive culture, ensuring employee compensation and benefits packages are competitive, and making sure employees understand the company mission and how their job role fits into this.
With the replacement cost of just one leaver averaging £12,000, and every new start taking time and, therefore, cost to integrate fully, people initiatives in SMEs are imperative for good business.
A positive culture can catapult an SME ahead of
the competition in terms of employee engagement. One of the biggest contributors towards this is trust. As in any good relationship, without trust there is nothing.
Most employees look for ethical leadership and to work in a company with a great business reputation.
Trusting employees to fulfil their job roles, without micromanagement, with regular communication, and clear company values and purpose will make them feel valued.
They will be more satisfied in their roles and be champions of the business as a result.
SMEs should work hard to make sure all employees feel welcome and remember the
importance of inclusion.
A good employee knows their worth and won’t stick around long where they feel excluded from any workplace cliques or having to put up with behaviour that can be intimidating, such as so called “lad culture”.
Good employee engagement is important. This is all about nailing the psychological contract at work and making people more likely to stay.
With the variety an SME working environment can offer employees, this should be achievable. Strong employee engagement builds business resilience, propels productivity and, ultimately, brings success.
If a business wants to know where it stands,
an employee engagement survey can be done. Responses may not always make welcome reading, however, at least the general health of the business, how employees really feel and where the key areas for improvement lie will be highlighted.
Having a competitive pay structure is a given for an ambitious SME looking to retain and attract employees.
However, it’s not always about pay. Another area SMEs can compete on a level playing field with larger organisations is to offer great employee benefits.
A generous benefit package is money well spent in terms of business investment. Incentive bonus schemes will help
motivate employees and achieve business targets, but SMEs can also be creative with their benefits offering.
We have seen some clients introduce wellbeing days and gym memberships to help employees with their mental and physical health. Work-life balance is sought after by most employees, so a generous holiday allowance can be offered which won’t cost the business financially.
Offering flexible working may be the difference between being an employer of choice, or one with a high staff turnover. Before deciding on benefits, ask your employees what’s important to them. Consultation before deciding on a new benefit or package will help maximise the cost benefit to the business.
Giving employees a sense of progression and growth can be done without the hierarchy of a larger organisation. Offer the opportunity of a career, not just a job. We recently conducted a survey into what’s great about working for an SME and here is a summary:
The chance to have a direct impact on the success of the business
Opportunities to accelerate personal growth through working in a smaller team
The ability to really get to know colleagues from across the business, which becomes more like an “extended family”
The cohesion that naturally comes with working in a smaller team
Increased autonomy, with the flexibility for people to act on their own initiative
SMEs should be loud and proud about these benefits and those that are unique to their company during recruitment campaigns. Competing in a tough job market can be challenging for SMEs, but it’s not impossible to attract and retain top talent by putting these people initiatives in place.