Executive Summary
Introduction
Chief among the challenges faced by SMEs is how to attract and keep good people – the beating heart of any organisation. More than three in four SMEs taking part in our research (77%) said they find it challenging to recruit suitably qualified staff for their business. And two– thirds of SMEs we surveyed (64%) said they found staff retention an issue. The recruitment and retention challenges facing SMEs have been exacerbated by a ‘perfect storm’ of low unemployment, and slow wage growth that has squeezed household incomes. This has encouraged people to start looking for new opportunities at a time when good people are in high demand. But employers can’t simply blame macro–economic factors for their employee woes. They must look closer to home and identify what factors are contributing to a lack of staff satisfaction in their own organisation, from low pay to a lack of flexibility, poor career progression opportunities or the absence of real responsibility. 1. The Value Gap: employees feel undervalued, but employers are often unaware SMEs need to ensure they are aware of their employees’ expectations, in order to be able to minimise the threat of losing key staff to competitors and having to embark on a costly and time–consuming search for suitably qualified replacements which may be unsuccessful. The four key findings
However, our study reveals that a large proportion of employees feel undervalued, many of them seemingly without the knowledge of their employers. • 85% of SMEs surveyed think their employees feel valued, compared to just 15% who believe their workers don’t feel valued. • Just 71% of SME employees say they feel valued by their employer, 14 percentage points below the finding from the employer survey. More than one in four SME employees (27%) say they don’t feel valued, 12 percentage points above the corresponding finding from the employer survey. SMEs can’t afford to be complacent when they are under constant threat from competitors of all sizes who are fighting hard for the top talent. 2. Benefits Barometer: SMEs are being out–gunned by larger rivals Keeping employees happy is a complex task, influenced by a broad range of factors from the transparency and clarity of HR processes and policies to the content of a job, working conditions, the personalities and relationships between colleagues, or the workplace culture. Many of these are complex issues requiring a high degree of HR expertise, but SME owners are usually time–poor and without the kind of dedicated HR support enjoyed by larger businesses. Employee benefits, if correctly considered, administered and communicated, can provide a relatively simple yet effective weapon in the fight against dissatisfaction in the workforce.
Whitepaper – The Engaged Employer 07
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