Small businesses create most jobs. The bad news is they also tend to fail – half don’t make the first year. And the reasons are well documented. But what unites the survivors? Putting our combined decades’ experience together, this is what the Calibre team came up with.

Successful SMEs aren’t afraid to recruit

Taking people on can be a gamble. But SMEs that go all the way take the risk and recruit when they need to. But neither are they afraid of opting for more flexible staffing options to keep overheads within the business’s means. Numbers are flexed up when the organisation has a flow of orders, and come down again when demand dips.

Successful SMES tackle under-performers head-on

No small business can carry underperformers, but it is surprising how many try to. It’s even more alarming how many tackle the problem too late making a hash of it. Winning businesses know when they have a performance issue on their hands, take professional advice and make tough decisions – including moving persistent poor performers out. Conversely, large organisations hang onto their poor performers. It’s not intentional, they either get lost in the business or HR won’t get tough for fear of damaging the company’s reputation or upsetting the board.

Successful SMEs keep it real

Sharp SMEs are just much better at talking. It’s partly a proximity thing, just leaning over or walking a few steps to talk to somebody face to face can get issues resolved quickly. But it’s more than that. SMEs with good communication channels stop people playing email ping-pong – for political or poor time management reasons – or devising cc lists of ever increasing lengths just to cover themselves. Such antics draw things out and issues take longer to resolve – sometimes they never are.

Successful SMEs hone in on critical skills

SMEs in it for the long term spend on skills. But they spend wisely ensuring the training they buy offers the best value for money, is clearly targeted and focuses on the area of need. Customised bite-size or modular training is increasingly popular for this reason.

Successful SMEs make more of their people’s skills

High performing SMEs have managers who are good at spotting and using their colleagues’ skills – particularly those skills they’ve paid for them to acquire. The same goes for recognising talent. And less restrictive business structures mean managers can create opportunities for bright and ambitious individuals to move up into new roles and responsibilities – ultimately driving the business forward.

According to the research by University of Nottingham’s Globalisation and Economic Policy Centre (see article www.hrmguide.co.uk), small businesses employing less than 100 workers account for 65 per cent of new British jobs in an average year.

Tags: crisis HR, employee engagement, HR management
Posted by steve walker
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