STREAMLINE OPERATIONS, ATTRACT AND RETAIN TOP TALENT: A WIN-WIN FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Written by Jessica Murray

 

A persistent market challenge: talent acquisition and retention

Since I started to explore launching Empower, I’ve spoken with various business owners to understand their goals and challenges. One theme persistently surfaces in each discussion: the struggle to acquire and retain talented employees.  

In today’s tight labor market, business owners grapple with sourcing specialized skill sets and fostering an environment for long-term retention. This is particularly acute for small businesses unable to offer competitive benefits or ones constrained by the need to have employees onsite full-time, versus offering hybrid or remote options many employees now prefer.  

Real insights from business owners:

  • A specialty apparel brand owner expressed that last year he experienced more challenges with employee retention than ever. 

  • The founder of an online coaching business mentioned how much work he faced when expanding from a two-person operation to more employees. There was significant time and thought required to formalize onboarding, build scalable systems and implement training.

  • The owner of a non-profit highlighted the high operational costs and disruption that emerged with the turnover of key personnel. 

Supporting data: labor market challenges for small businesses

The June NFIB Jobs Report data also highlights the challenge Main Street businesses face with filling open positions.

  • 85% of owners who hired or tried to hire in June reported few or no qualified applicants. 

  • 37% of small business owners indicated they had open positions for which they’ve been unable to hire. 

  • 19% of small business owners indicated labor quality was their top operational challenge. 

The costs to talent challenges and a call to action

These obstacles are not just inconvenient, they’re also costly. This is particularly true for small businesses given the heavier reliance on each employee and limited resources. Talent disruptions can also lead to downstream impacts on the customer experience with the brand, potentially putting revenue and reputation at risk.  

A U.S. Chamber of Commerce report from December posed a critical question reflecting on this issue and another challenge of controlling costs: 

How will small businesses grow without adding employees?

This reflects the dual challenge of retaining critical employees and expanding the business without proportionally increasing employee expenses. 

Operational excellence: a strategic solution to both talent and cost challenges

While an immediate inclination may be to think of talent acquisition and management as areas for only Human Resources (HR) to fix, that’s not necessarily the case. Many small businesses don’t have HR departments and I would argue that strong business foundations and systems can play a meaningful role here – they can unlock improved employee satisfaction and enable you to do more with the same or fewer people resources. 

By conducting a deep analysis of how a business functions, understanding strategic goals and evaluating the employee experience, there are many ways to build a stronger, committed talent base. 

Here are a few examples to highlight: 

  • Identify Training Opportunities: A thorough analysis might bring to light opportunities to more consistently train employees in the skills necessary to succeed in their roles. Upskilling can drive more productivity per employee and translate into a better customer experience.

  • Improve Systems and Tools: Identifying inefficient processes or gaps in various parts of the business allows you to take action, streamline and augment certain activities with automation. This frees time and allows you and your employees to focus on more strategic activities. 

  • Improve Employee Engagement: The right organizational structures empower employees to excel in their jobs and enable the business to run more smoothly. Coupled with professional development opportunities, this can lead to a more dedicated workforce that’s also bought into your vision. 

If these challenges resonate with you and you’re looking for actionable solutions, Empower can assist. Empower collaborates with business owners to achieve operational excellence by examining the existing business structure, identifying areas of opportunity and partnering on solutions. We take a holistic approach and tailor solutions to align value based on client needs.

Click here to set up a conversation.

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