Tips for SMEs hiring in 2016
The UK experienced a huge upsurge in the quantity of people moving away from traditional employment in 2015. These individuals were instead choosing to focus their efforts on both freelance and self-employed roles.
Official figures from the Bank of England, conducted between 2008 and 2015, revealed that the number of freelance workers rose by a massive 700,000 people.
This trend usually takes place after a recession, as those who have lost their jobs will often explore new careers and also, roles that offer a pay increase. As a result, a huge number of small businesses were created, and as they grow many are now looking to hire. If you own an SME, there are a number of tips you can follow to ensure success in the early days of employing:
Offer staff incentives
When it comes to salaries, small companies can struggle to match the wages offered by larger companies. However, this doesn’t mean they can’t offer a variety of other incentives. Such incentives could include a pleasant working environment, flexible working hours and meaningful work.
Being a company that is smaller in size allows you to focus on getting to know your employees on a personal basis and to tailor incentives to suit their needs. Knowing what it is that your employees want is a key way to attract job seekers who may have initially been looking for employment with larger competitors.
Look for ways to overcome the National Living Wage
The National Living Wage is set to be introduced in April 2016. This will pose a huge challenge for SMEs and it’s therefore important to be prepared for how it will impact on staff costs. Try looking for ways to attract talented recruits whilst still sticking to your recruitment budget. Flexible working hours will play a big part in this, just as employing remote workers will prove beneficial.
Take advantage of support
Apprenticeships are a great way to attract new talent and some can be funded by the government. Looking into offering these is a great way to train up quality staff at a fraction of the cost and many schemes are proven to help small companies to attract talent. Self-employed and small business owners should stay on top of all the public schemes available to them.
If you’re an employer and you’re considering how best to recruit and retain your talent, have a chat with Discovery Graduates today and see how they can help.
