Recruitment
50 ATTRACT EMPLOYEES
Recruitment
How to attract employees for small businesses
Believe it or not, it doesn’ t matter whether your business is large or small, you actually stand an equal chance of competing for talented employees in the UK. By adopting some simple tactics you can compete with the big salaries and perks offered by larger businesses. reports Gloria Wyse
‘ small fish in a big pond’ scenario or realised they don’ t actually get a chance to make any real decisions affecting the organisation
According to the latest DTI National Statistics, published August 2005, only 0.1 % of enterprises in the UK were classified as large businesses i. e. employing more that 250 people( this excludes Government and non-profit organisations). Most businesses in the UK were classified as Small and Medium-sized Enterprises( SMEs). 99.3 % were small( 0- 49 employees); 0.6 % medium sized( 50-249 employees). In fact, SMEs accounted for more than half of the employment( 58.5 %) and turnover( 51.3 %) in the UK.
With this in mind, you should not think that because you are a small business you don’ t stand a chance of attracting talented employees. There are many people who would prefer to work for a small organisation. Maybe they have tried corporate world and have become disillusioned by the‘ small fish in a big pond’ scenario or realised they don’ t actually get a chance to make any real decisions affecting the organisation.
If you are a small business and looking to employ a new person in your company, seriously consider the following attraction techniques before you prepare your advert:
Find out what the going rate is for the position in your area, and at least match it. Unfortunately, many small businesses base their salary on their budget rather than on the market rate- advertising your role below the market rate will guarantee your employee recruitment efforts fail at the first post. If you really can’ t offer competitive rates then there are ways you can combat this by offering a package( I will cover this later on)
Widen the scope of your advertising It’ s not enough to just place your advert in the Help Wanted section of your local newspaper. Widen your candidate pool by placing ads on job websites( many of these are completely free of charge). Also consider connecting with your local college / university or training school. Introduce
engage SPRING ISSUE 2006