RECRUITMENT
Are Bath ' s micro businesses thriving with employee engagement?
Dan Barfoot, Operations Director at local recruitment firm, CMD Recruitment takes a look.
Over 88.8 per cent of Bath’ s businesses are micro businesses with less than 10 employees per organisation. Anyone looking to advance their career within a large organisation may be slightly out of luck but, according to Forbes, micro businesses have significantly high levels of job satisfaction. A recent pandemic employee engagement survey showed that 71 per cent of employees working for micro businesses felt very excited about their job. Roughly three in four employees felt like their employer cares about them as a person and four in five feel valued for their contributions at work. Employees who take pride in their company perform at a higher level— and small businesses are winning here, too. 92 per cent of the survey’ s respondents say they are proud to work for their company, and 93 per cent feel their work contributes to the success of the organisation. For employee engagement, small and micro businesses definitely have a lot to offer. In addition to the above, they also seem to offer higher |
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opportunities for hybrid working or at the least have a flexible approach to working hours – which is a definitely an attractive attribute to job seekers at present.
Nonetheless, we can’ t ignore the fact that attracting future employees in an unstable recruitment market may make hiring in Bath’ s micro businesses slightly difficult for the foreseeable future. Given the effects of the pandemic, candidates want job security. Larger businesses always have the upper hand with job security as the success of their organisation is visible. This could give larger businesses the edge on securing that top tier talent. However, employee engagement and job satisfaction is definitely a candidate requirement trending post pandemic. The pandemic has given many the opportunity to look at their job satisfaction, structure, career progression and really determine what it is they want from their career. As such, job satisfaction ranks as high as job security. If Bath’ s micro businesses can highlight the employee engagement and
job satisfaction their organisation offers potential candidates, they have a great opportunity to compete with the larger organisations for that top tier talent.
Whether you are a micro or large business, you are probably feeling the pain of staffing shortages. Candidates are hard to find and it’ s clear there are talent shortages across the UK. So, what can you, as a business offer, to attract the right candidates for your vacancies? Ask yourself:
• Do you have capacity to pay more?
• Can you cover the hours with a part time member of staff?
• Could you split the job into different skill levels?
• Do you have flexible working arrangements?
• Could the role be done remotely to widen your talent pool?
At CMD Recruitment we are constantly asked to engage with our clients on things further than just recruitment. We offer our clients aspects such as salary benchmarking, employment market
analysis, recruitment insights and skill testing to help outline the employment market and give you genuine advice on how best to secure the right candidates for your business. We pride ourselves in putting the consultant back into Recruitment Consultant.
Consulting on the employment market has never been more crucial as candidates have options when it comes to employment, so your business must stand out from the crowd. Who knows, the employment market may very well change again when furlough ends but if you are looking to recruit, speaking with an expert recruitment consultant can really add value to your business.
Keep up to date on all the latest employment and recruitment market insights by signing up to our news alerts via our website.
For more info: www. cmdrecruitment. com
How to Hybrid
As many businesses look to return to the office and adopt hybrid working models, Interaction’ s Deborah Wilder offers some insights on how to handle the transition.
Adopting a hybrid working model can be a complex affair. The first step is to decide what your workplace needs to achieve. Are teams struggling to stay motivated remotely? Do you feel your culture is in danger of being eroded? Do your employees need to be together to be truly creative? This is uncharted territory so you shouldn’ t expect to have all the answers – no-one does- but by embracing a‘ test and learn’ approach and grappling with these questions you’ ll gain insights into how and when to bring people in.
Secondly, the details of the transition need to be considered. Will your space function effortlessly? Can remote and office-based workers seamlessly join meetings and collaborate? A robust workplace technology infrastructure, such as desk and meeting room booking systems will be vital in a hybrid working environment with no preassigned desks.
Your communication strategy will also be vital to ensuring all employees feel supported, guided and informed. Remember key information may be shared more easily in the office, so ensure remote staff have equal access to all critical knowledge and platforms. Make all information explicit, transparent and unambiguous.
Lastly, does your space match your working model? If your office is being used mainly for collaboration, culture-building and meetings, do the available areas facilitate these activities? Don’ t forget quiet focus areas as not everyone can or wants to work from home, particularly those starting out on their career journey. Also remember to provide plenty of spaces for Teams or Zoom calls.
At Interaction, we’ re helping businesses across the South West optimise for hybrid working, from their workspace strategy to creating entirely new workspaces.
Get in touch to find out how to make hybrid work for you. www. interaction. uk. com
Deborah Wilder Deborah. Wilder @ interaction. uk. com Head of Research and Strategy
14 www. tbebathandsomerset. co. uk