Employee retention secrets of smart SME business owners

SME business owners have an ongoing worry. What if competitors or bigger organisations poach their best talent? And then, there are some business owners and startup founders who attract talents even from larger firms. What's their Employee Retention secret?

While academicians and analysts enumerate many factors, starting from work culture to organisational innovation, here is an unfiltered view of SME business owners' strategies and tactics for retaining and bonding with their employees.

According to the experts, high retention levels demand a great work culture, financial rewards, and good care of employees' psychological and social needs. But an SME business owner has limited resources. Their HR bandwidth is also short. So how do they fill the gap?

Tactics and strategies

Stick to the fundamentals

It's obvious, but business owners overlook it-- Retention starts from recruitment! Two things are important here. First, the potential employees expect a lacklustre hiring experience from small and medium businesses. Break that assumption. Give them a good, professional experience. It involves transparency and clarity of communication.

Most organisations treat candidates badly. So, a healthy and proactive response mechanism builds the bond between the employee and the firm from the very beginning.

And the second factor is: Fit of the candidate with the organisation. If an employee fits in well, the chances of them performing are better, and they remain in the job for a longer duration.

A tip

Most companies go to campuses and ask for high SGPA students. But smart business owners

hire medium SGPA students, on purpose. These students may not be studious, but are street smart. They are the organisers and participants of activities in college. They make up for their lower grades by working extra seriously on their first job. These students are also more enterprising and love to work closely with a business owner, rather than reporting to a junior manager in a large organisation.

Onboarding plays a crucial role

Research suggests that a large number of employees decide to leave the organisation in their first six months on the job. Good onboarding helps retain them. MNC companies splurge money on welcome kits, parties etc. But SMEs don't have that kind of funds. They offer a personal touch. Like, senior managers having a tea meeting with the new employee to make them feel welcomed.

A structured onboarding process is highly recommended. It gives the employee a sense that even if the organisation is small in size, and revenue, the approach is professional. A competitive salary and growth opportunities in the organisation are two other factors for increasing the retention number.

Early leadership!

SMEs can't match big corporations on salaries, so they compensate with growth opportunities. For example, SMEs can train employees with non-professional backgrounds for a job which generally demands a professional degree. It works like magic. Because such employees are motivated to prove that they can do as well as employees from well-known institutes.

Once they get in the groove, these employees become performance champions and company ambassadors. They get handsome increments relative to their earlier package. And still costs less to the organisation. They also stick around for a longer duration.

Use automation solutions

With new-age technological advancements, the technology gap between big corporates and small businesses is null. SMEs can opt for SaaS products which charge as per usage and team size.

This empowers the employees. And their reason to leave for bigger organisations is minimised. For example, use employee Pulse Monitoring. With HR software conduct regular 60-90 second surveys. It will tell you the mood of the organisation. And employees feel their feedback is important. This increases their belongingness to the organisation. Organise Town Hall Meetings and regular reviews. Celebrate the success together.

Investing in social media presence is also a good idea. When the employees see their company active on platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram, it boosts their self-esteem. When outside people recognise the company, it builds employees' confidence in the organisation. These activities build professional culture.

Trying to create a personal bond with employees by celebrating festivals also goes a long way.

In a nutshell, have a professional approach to business, but with a human touch. Engage with employees. Working closely with the CEO or the business owner is a motivator. Give employees bigger responsibilities than they would get in other organisations. And create a family like work-culture. These will help you retain employees for a longer duration.

Dhwani Mehta, Founder & Director, OpportuneHR