"A positive
representation of your business has to do mostly with your employees. My
employees have to know what my goals are and what type of service or image we
want to portray to the community."
Finding, keeping,
and managing good personnel, both hourly employees and management, ranks among
the major challenges for small businesses. Many owners believe that it is
critical to success. An owner who recommended, "Make sure you have good
employees before opening your doors", expressed their thoughts.
"I would
suspect that almost every one of us failed to recognize that at some point you
need to support yourself with good people," disclosed another.
"Surround yourself with competent support people."
Finding qualified
employees can be a real challenge. For example, in addition to competing with
larger companies for business, small business owners find that they must also
compete with each other when it comes to hiring good employees. "One of
the big challenges facing relatively small businesses like us," noted an
owner, "is attracting the best talent we can get. For small companies to
get somebody good, they've got to offer a lot." Another owner explained
that "it's difficult competing against the big guys who have lower costs
of doing business."
Nonetheless,
small business owners believe in their ability to compete for good employees
because they can offer some benefits that big companies cannot - such as
flexible schedules, loyalty and other intangible benefits.
The road to
building a competent staff is often paved with challenges. Many small business
owners find it difficult to select the right employees. Retaining good help is
particularly difficult. The owner of a civil engineering firm hit the nail on
the head: "It's very hard to keep people who are loyal to you and who want
to put the hours in. Otherwise, they'd be in their own business."
Motivating
employees through encouragement and guidance helps to build and retain a
competent staff. Here, too, a realistic and supportive attitude can help meet
the challenge:
"Getting the
help to believe in themselves in tough," explained an owner. "I say,
'Look, we're only human and we're all going to make mistakes. Let's just hope
that the mistakes you make don't cost us a heck of a lot of money. I make some big
mistakes myself. You've just got to accept the mistake and turn it into a
positive.' Showing people that settles everyone down and gets them to believe
in themselves."
Motivating
employees to consistently deliver quality is critical to business success,
particularly for a service business. Owners must communicate their goals
effectively and train their employees to help achieve these goals. All this
requires a delicate balance act.
"You must
have people who are qualified or train them to be qualified," explained
one owner. "They have to be well paid, not overpaid. And, you have to take
care of your employees."
Another owner
explained that he spent time on establishing a positive and responsible
attitude in his staff. "Establish that in their minds first," he
advised.
Generally, owners
rely on employee training to ensure that their staff is competent and has the
right attitude. For instance one owner said, "one of the things that can
help is an internal education program and a proper training program. Also, have
a quality assurance review of what you're doing before the product goes out the
door."
Compensation is a
second effective method to motivate employees into conveying a positive
attitude and working responsibly. As you might expect, many owners find this a
particular challenge. While small businesses typically do not have the
resources to pay high wages, they need to adequately compensate employees in
order to attract and retain them.
"Be sure
that you can pay decent salaries to the people you hire so that they'll stay
with you and help the business grow,: advised a retailer.
Benefits are
another important way to attract and retain good employees. A fair and generous
benefits package helps employees feel both valued and secure - - two important
characteristics that small business owners feel they can offer to their
employees. Even the smallest of businesses can offer such benefits through
group programs.
Being creative with
intangible benefits is another effective way to retain employees. A bookstore
owner recommended that you "figure out other ways to compensate them. We
give them special discounts on what they buy within the store. Also, I try to
be flexible about their hours."
When an employee
doesn't work out, then what? Many owners find this one of the most challenging
aspects of the business. Often, the difficulty of firing an employee leads
owners to retain weak players longer than they should. As explained by one owner,
"You have that instinct that they are not going to make it. When do you
get rid of them? You keep them too long. I've run into that."
"It's the
hardest thing in the world," said another. However, you are doing the
employee a favor as well as your business when you suggest that such a person
will be better suited to another job if he or she doesn't fit.
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