While employee attraction and retention are ongoing challenges for all businesses, losing an employee is particularly costly for small businesses. Along with the costs associated with recruiting, hiring and training a replacement, employees who leave small businesses are often key contributors in a smaller work environment. When a key contributor leaves, it has the potential to disrupt operations and negatively impact the workplace culture.
It’s in the best interest of small businesses to take action to enhance employee attraction and retention — but how? In this article, we offer five creative ways small employers can reduce turnover and better attract top talent without increasing compensation.
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Tactics to Enhance Employee Attraction & Retention
Select the Right Benefits
According to a study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, small businesses are less likely to offer health insurance compared to businesses with more employees. Health insurance is highly valued by employees who often don’t have access to this coverage, such as part-time employees, those in the service sector — and those employed by small businesses. Because of this, small businesses that offer even a simple benefits package that includes health care can create a competitive edge over those that don’t.
Health insurance is just one component to consider as part of a benefits package, and small businesses should tailor their offerings to meet the specific demands of current and prospective employees. One way to start this process is by surveying employees on what types of benefits would interest them the most and then using that data to inform benefits decisions. The best benefits to offer will vary in each small business depending on the needs of the workforce, but they can be leveraged to attract and retain the right employees.
Revamp Recruiting, Hiring & Onboarding Practices
Small businesses often have limited resources when it comes to recruiting, hiring and onboarding, so it’s important to be as efficient as possible. These restraints may include insufficient financial resources to put into these practices, but also a lack of time, as oftentimes it’s an owner, manager or lone HR professional who is tasked with taking on recruiting duties.
However, a thorough review of the current status of these practices may uncover ways to create improvements.
Leveraging technology is one way to improve these practices. The good news for smaller employers is that many tools available today are relatively feasible to set up — even for a team of one — and often cost-effective.
Employers can consider using tools such as an applicant tracking system that collects and stores candidate resumes and helps automate common recruiting and onboarding tasks. To further ease the onboarding process, employers could consider leveraging cloud-based and digital tools designed to help manage the process for completing Form I-9 or direct deposit, which can be tedious for both the new hire and the employer.
By improving these processes, employers can reduce costs, and recruiting efforts can focus on finding new employees rather than dealing with tedious tasks.
Expand Recruiting Reaches
If an employer isn’t receiving the number of quality job candidates they desire, it’s worth strategizing how to grow this pool. A good starting point for small businesses looking to grow their recruiting reach is to expand their online presence. This may include creating and maintaining multiple online profiles, posting content regularly and educating prospective workers about job opportunities.
If limited by time, it’s ok to focus on managing one or two key profiles. It’s best to pick a platform where potential employees may likely be and focus on developing an active presence — even if it just means putting in a few minutes per day.
Focus on Developing Employees
Attraction and retention challenges aren’t always about bringing enough employees through the doors. Today, many small businesses face skills gaps. Recruiting for talent with these specific skills may require significant resources, so small businesses should consider how they can bridge these gaps in-house.
Small businesses generally won’t need to develop skills for large groups, so it’s a good idea to focus on individualized learning. Consider providing career pathing plans, creating mentorship programs, offering microlearning workshops to focus on a specific skill, or paying for employees to obtain certifications or further their education outside of the workplace.
Create a Strong Workplace Culture
While compensation and benefits matter in the attraction and retention of employees, so does the culture of a workplace. Even if they have limited resources, small employers should focus on fostering a desirable workplace. A healthy company culture can help retain employees and, in turn, create an environment that is attractive to prospective job seekers. In fact, company culture is important enough that it often drives employment decisions.
As such, many small businesses are focusing on creating a strong workplace culture. Leaders are pursuing initiatives such as training managers on how to identify employee burnout, designate fair workloads and support the needs of their individual team members. In addition, many small businesses are developing programs to help create an inclusive work environment.
Connect with CBIZ for Small Business Benefits Solutions
Like most organizations, small businesses face challenges in their efforts to attract and retain top talent. Fortunately, small organizations have the unique ability to stay agile and adapt to the shifting needs of current and prospective employees. If you’re seeking solutions to help your small business gain a competitive edge without increasing costs, connect with a member of our small business team today.