Hiring is still the name of the game for small business leaders.
By a two-to-one margin, small business leaders say they plan to hire more staff the rest of year versus laying off employees.
This statistic, echoed in our own Information Strategies, Inc. (ISI) surveys, comes from a new Clutch report. In its survey, more than half (51%) of small businesses say they plan to hire, and only about a quarter (23%) plan to lay off employees this year.
Most tellingly, job growth in small businesses is expected to focus on the types of positions that support customer growth.
As soundings from many sources indicate, there is a need for salespeople who are going to create the initial demand as well as customer service people who insure fulfillment of that demand.
In demand are staffers who understand how to execute marketing campaigns with the right strategy; particularly sought after are digital strategists and marketing automation experts.
IT professionals are always in high demand and increasingly so with digitization.
As of March 2019, there were approximately 1+ million more job openings than unemployed people in the U.S. Small businesses must consider how they can entice talented candidates in an economy that offers job seekers options.
With employee demand that high, recommendations from existing employees often work out as they already know your business’ culture, what is needed in the position and vouch for the new applicant. Don’t ignore this vital internal resource channel and reward the successful referral in some way.
Small businesses may lack the HR expertise and higher compensation packages of larger companies, so they should think creatively about their recruitment processes and benefits packages. Consider joining a PEO that offers flex-packages with a variety of benefits. While there is a management fee, the PEO’s volume purchasing power often compensates.
For more information on PEOs, please see my May 6, 2018 blog, PEOs Can Be Advantageous.
On the flip side, if your small business needs to let one or more employees go, take care in doing so professionally. Prepare a consistent message that is honest and give the employee(s) as much heads up as possible. It is also important to be aware of how your business’ remaining employees learn about the departure(s) to avoid misunderstandings. Doing it right will make it easier when your company is ready to hire.
JoAnn Laing's Blog 