When it comes to finding and retaining the best talent, SMEs can find it hard, with research suggesting four out of five SMEs find recruiting a uphill task. Bigger competitors often snap up the most talented graduates in the most in-demand fields, as they have the reach and funds to secure almost anyone they want.

If you add to that record high employment figures in UK, finding the best people for your smaller business can seem like a difficult task. But it’s important for SMEs to supplement their workforce with the best and the brightest – how else are you to grow and prosper?

With all this in mind, let’s look at why top talent is so important and how to get it.

Smaller Businesses See Bigger Results

In a huge company, no employee really has the opportunity to stand out or drastically affect their employer’s fortunes. Rogue traders might occasionally put a sizeable pockmark in a banking institution’s bottom line, but aside from those unwelcome examples, most employees in big firms are part of a machine. Not so for smaller businesses.

In a smaller concern, the right hire can have a dramatic impact. Because SMEs are more agile and carry a smaller team, recruiting top talent can provide tangible benefits. Innovations and superior performance by a new, talented employee can set the tone for the whole workforce. What’s more, talent begets talent. Being able to show prospective employees the high-level workforce you have is likely to impress and encourage more talent to your business.

Finding and Keeping Talent

To identify and recruit the best people in the field, your business has to apply itself to the task. This means working out what makes you unique and attractive to a potential employee and fostering a culture that makes the business an irresistible choice.

You need to identify what you do that makes people stay with your business. Small businesses can often offer more in terms of job progression and skills growth than bigger companies. Make it clear what this candidate will receive for coming onboard. Businesses that hire employees are taking them from somewhere else, so what makes you the better choice?

If you have HR on-site, then invest in recruitment marketing tools. This will enable you to target jobs to the right people in the right areas. If you don’t have dedicated HR, find a recruitment agency that understands the type of employee you want – have a firm idea of the skills and experience required, so they can run with this.

Finally, remember that recruitment affects the whole business. Every person involved in the sourcing and interviewing stage should have their voice heard. When deciding on a candidate, ask if this potential employee is not only skilled enough, but of the right character and disposition for your outlook.  

It may be the hub of the financial world in the UK and be home to over 8 million inhabitants, but it seems that employment levels have begun to take a nosedive in England’s capital.

Figures provided by Capital 500, a quarterly London survey, has revealed that 57% of companies that are trying to recruit are encountering difficulties with professional and managerial roles along with skilled, technical roles, being the hardest to recruit for.

So, what is contributing to the slowing down of recruitment and how will the capital bounce back from this period of decline?

The difficulty to employ foreign workers

London is heavily reliant on foreign workers, with around one in six of those employed in the city being EU nationals. The reliance on these individuals can be seen heavily in industries such as hospitality.

Take international sandwich chain Pret a Manger for example. At present 65% of their staff are from EU countries not including the UK.

Unfortunately, the government has been making it increasingly hard for businesses to hire workers from overseas, and it is anticipated that this will get worse following the end of free movement post-Brexit.

The skills shortage

While skills in digital were once seen as a necessity, it is now regarding as an absolute must for most businesses in the city. Last year the British Chambers of Commerce warned that more than 75 per cent of businesses face a digital skills shortage and this problem is set to get more serious, especially with Brexit just around the corner.

If businesses in the capital don’t upskill their current workforce or do more to try and recruit those with a relevant digital skillset, the UK may struggle to assert itself on the world stage after departing from the EU.

Another industry facing a severe skills shortage is construction. The skills gap has been hitting SMEs at the worst possible level and with more than two thirds struggling to hire bricklayers, it seems that the government’s plans to build 300,000 houses every year may fall flat.

The rise in automation

With employers choosing to invest in software and machinery to automate jobs as opposed to wages, the rise in automation may be one of the main factors causing employment levels to halt.

While the rise in automation does put a number of jobs at risk, it may also help to create some, especially ones centred on social and creative intelligence.

Analysis by Centre for London has indicated that new jobs are most likely to be created in industries such as finance and insurance, and information and communication, all of which are specialisms for the capital.