In the rave to recruit and retain good staff, many business owners often see themselves outgunned by larger enterprises. But there are ways of levelling the playing field.
Small business is now the major creator of new jobs in Australia and people, whether by choice or necessity, are gravitating to small and medium sized businesses.
Many are fed up with the corporate rat race, particularly the younger workforce who have seen what their parents have gone through.
At a recent forum of corporate HR practitioners, many expressed a concern with their younger talented people opting out completely, cashing in the equity in their home and going off and doing their own thing.
At the other end of the demographics there is a large number of people who may have been retrenched or have voluntarily quit the rat race. This could have been through corporate restructuring, corporate collapse, or people being burnt out by office politics or the imbalance of work and life.
These are potentially good hunting grounds for smaller employers.
To win the war for talent you need to be able to win the candidate over. The critical aspects are to know your strengths and use them, to know what prospective employees want from you, and to know how to sell your firm and the opportunity.
Whether it's writing an advertisement or meeting prospective employees, your role is to sell your organisation, and sell the opportunity. Some basic tips that may make the difference are:
Be prepared to take telephone enquiries
Bigger employers are often process driven with email applications only and rarely offer access to the decision maker. The better applicants are more discerning, and may want to talk to someone before submitting their details.
The internet has made things very efficient with online applications, pre-screening questionnaires, online psychometric assessment and web-enabled applicant tracking and communication systems catering for volume applications.
But people miss the human contact. They don't want to be treated as a number. So why not talk to prospective employees? Encourage them to ask questions and let your enthusiasm galvanise their interest. At the same time you can make an initial assessment of who you want to meet, and save on unnecessary interviews.
Be willing to share information
Big companies are investing big time in their ‘Employment Brand'. You can do the same on a small budget. First impressions are important so provide candidates with information on your business (marketing material, extracts or reference to your web site) and have a written job description so prospective employees understand the scope of the role. Know your competitor's weaknesses but don't bag them. Just leverage off your comparative advantages.
Put your best face forward
When you interview, be prepared and be on time. You must have read their resume and have questions (both standard for all candidates and unique ones for each) ideally written down but at the very least be mentally prepared.
Take notes both to show interest in their response but also for subsequent referral. Show people around the workplace and introduce them to those they may work with. It is fantastic if you can let them spend time alone with others they may work with, it shows your confidence as an employer. But, again, make sure those they meet are your more positive employees and prepare them well. They, in turn, will value having contributed to the recruitment process.
Communicate openly and regularly during the recruitment process
It is not good for either candidate or employer to have a too fast or a drawn out process. Never offer on the spot. Sure it may flatter the candidate, but it may infer impulsiveness or desperation on your part. Indicate what the process will be and roughly how quickly you will be able to respond. Understand each candidate's timing needs, options and preferences. Ask open-ended questions and listen. If necessary, under-promise and over-deliver but don't fail to respond or drag out the process without explanation. People can accept you saying ‘no' - what really annoys people is a failure to get back to them. They will tell others of their experience which can assist or hinder future recruitment and your reputation as an employer. As a smaller business you will be less bureaucratic than your larger counterpart and can demonstrate your efficiency through a clean and decisively run campaign.
Don't be afraid to deal with salary issues up front
The overwhelming evidence suggests that salary is rarely the major determinant for those accepting or leaving a job. Research your market and make sure what you are prepared to offer is competitive and in line with the market. Have a band within which you are prepared to negotiate.
If your sole point of difference (or that of a competitor) is money then you are on flimsy ground, because the moment someone has more to offer, your case is lost. Understand the candidate's salary expectations and be prepared to negotiate. You should never make an offer that you are not convinced will be accepted.
When it comes to retention, small business has some major advantages over the big end of town. The greatest of these is your ability to spread that enthusiasm to those that you employ. If you are a good manager and employer you can build trust and loyalty that is very difficult to create in a large business. Again it rarely comes down to money.
People are generally motivated by those around them, the challenges of a role and the leadership of their boss. Sure you may not be able to offer global opportunities but you may be the best in your business, you may be able to offer the convenience of flexible hours or working close to home. You can probably offer greater variety in a role than someone lost in a large enterprise. You may be able to offer greater job security and a greater sense of community within your small enterprise. After all, who wants to be a small cog in a big wheel? Particularly if that big wheel has a habit of crushing its staff?
Leading management guru, Charles Handy, wrote of the elephant and the flea, where the elephant represents big global business and the flea represents small business/self employed. I prefer the elephant and the bee corollary. Why? Partly because the bee represents a colourful and successful hard worker but more importantly because elephants are scared of bees!