A 2018 report by Goldman Sachs found that over 70% of Small and Midsize Businesses encounter challenges in attracting and retaining skilled talent. Often, it’s nearly impossible for SMBs to effectively compete for industry top talent workers considering the attractive incentives established brands offer skilled employees.
Nevertheless, for your SMB to grow and scale its operations, you must be able to attract and retain top talent that will spur growth. Therefore, you must understand the needs and career expectations of the talented workers to devise effective strategies to attract and retain them.
The following top five most effective ways your SMB can leverage to attract and retain the best talent available:
1. Develop an Employee Benefits Package
Annually, a considerable number of employees report injuries at their workplace — often resulting from slips, repetitive motion, and poor workplace ergonomics, among other causes.
Your SMB can consider developing employee benefits geared toward mitigating workplace injuries that workers are likely to suffer. For instance, you can develop an affordable health insurance plan and on-site physiotherapy services.
Allowing your workers to seek treatment for injuries on-site eliminates the need to apply for sick leaves. In the long run, this can help your SMB attract and retain the best talent in the industry. SMBs that execute employee benefits packages not only encounter minimal absenteeism but also experience better employee retention. Therefore, developing and implementing an employee benefits package is one of the most effective ways to attract and retain talent.
2. Be Upfront About Expectations
It’s paramount for you to make your expectations crystal clear to prospective workers from the onset. That way, you’ll increase your likelihood of attracting and retaining the best talent. Effective communication and trust are vital for you to realize this objective.
Ensure you clearly outline expectations, highlighting daily activities and the necessary qualifications to fulfill job specifications effectively. However, this doesn’t mean you should be uncompromising during interviews. Instead, let your prospects know that you highly regard their skill set and would be pleased to leverage their expertise in specific ways. Also, ensure you highlight what they stand to gain and how they can contribute to the success of your SMB. Ultimately, being upfront about what you expect from prospective workers will help you attract the right talent that can carry on with your SMB’s vision and objectives.
3. Adopt Remote Work Policies
With the advent of Covid-19, remote work has become a necessity. Therefore, your SMB needs to adapt to this change to attract and retain the best talent. Since half of the global population is experiencing lockdown or physical interaction restrictions, working from home has become the new normal. If your SMB has never embraced or experimented with remote working, consider doing so.
With the advancement in technology, remote working is now easier, more cost-efficient, and more productive. Besides, the best talent in today’s job market is interested in working for companies that offer them the option of working from home. Therefore, if your SMB is keen on attracting and retaining skilled talent, it’s time you adopt remote working policies.
4. Promote Employee Work-Life Balance
Promoting employee work-life balance is one of the most effective ways for your SMB to attract and retain the best talent. More often than not, workaholics tend to be less productive and become exhausted easily. Therefore, you must avoid overworking your staff if you’re keen on retaining them in your SMB.
Instead, encourage your staff to take time off to take care of personal matters, including time to be with their family. Also, in your workplace, ensure you organize regular outings where your staff get an opportunity to have dinner together and foster interpersonal relationships. Ultimately, if prospective workers perceive your SMB to be a place they can have an opportunity to balance work and personal life, you can easily attract and retain them.
5. Recognize and Appreciate Your Staff
According to experts, there’s a direct connection between employee recognition and retention. Therefore, recognizing and appreciating excellent performance can help your SMB retain top talent. One way you can do this is by regularly holding performance reviews and promoting your employees. Your company can also offer incentives like a retention bonus to help entice top employees to stay at their current company. Also, ensure you verbally and publicly praise your staff whenever they perform their duties perfectly, which can aid your SMB’s effort to attract and retain talent.
Take Away
Overall, you should consider adopting these five strategies to overall HR policy to enable your SMB to attract and retain top talent.