How small businesses can gain competitive advantage in the competition for talent
A significant component of the answer is a workplace culture that helps employees feel connected to their organization, its mission, and one another.
The increasing competition for talented and experienced workers is a concern for businesses across the United States. However, smaller organizations may gain an advantage in attracting and maintaining high-caliber workers by leveraging their agility and other inherent capabilities as the competition for talent escalates.
In recent months, filling crucial positions with skilled candidates has been a pressing problem for many businesses. After weathering the volatility of the pandemic, a wave of senior leaders have decided to retire sooner than anticipated. This destabilizes many companies' succession plans, leaving them without the required personnel to progress their organization's ambitions.
In addition to keeping and promoting high-performing people from within your business, you must also recruit high-caliber external talent to overcome this obstacle. In both circumstances, establishing a workplace culture that helps employees feel connected to their firm, its mission, and one another is a crucial component of the answer and a field that plays to the natural advantages of small companies.
Integrating work with meaning
Numerous entrepreneurs, family business owners, and other executives of small companies are exceptionally motivated and purpose-driven in their work. In a tight labor market, this is a significant benefit.
We have seen that the vast majority of individuals desire to undertake meaningful employment. For example, in a global poll, 75% of respondents expressed a desire to work for an organization that positively impacts society. And it's not just about luring younger talent; this concerns all generations.
Small organizations are well-positioned to foster a feeling of shared purpose in their workers and demonstrate the significance of their job. Moreover, with less hierarchy to negotiate, top executives can connect genuinely with employees at various levels of their firm and assist them in realizing their contributions to the organization, clients, and other stakeholders.
Culture as a differentiation
If an organization's mission directs its course, its culture — its shared behaviors, attributes, and facilitators —propels its trip. Both are potent instruments for attracting and retaining the proper workers and are strengths that often favor smaller firms.
63% of respondents with less than 1,000 workers stated that their organization had a culture that distinguishes it from rivals. However, this percentage falls to 46% for larger firms.
To make this work to their advantage, it is generally advantageous for leaders of small enterprises to consider the culture they wish to instill inside their corporation. This may require asking oneself, "What do I see my culture as?"
How should my staff feel while working?
Am I inspiring and motivating employees to work and lead in novel ways?
Does our company encourage employee-driven innovation?
Asking the same questions to employees inside your firm is a crucial next step for understanding their viewpoints and identifying areas of alignment and divergence. This activity may help develop trust within your business and uncover aspects of its culture that could benefit from evolution, elevation, or deemphasis. Small organizations may experiment with new initiatives and respond swiftly to their shifting employee objectives using agility.
Transforming obstacles into possibilities
When competing for elite personnel, it is very unusual for executives of small companies to believe they are at a disadvantage on some fronts. However, behind many obstacles lie chances for agile small companies to acquire a competitive advantage.
It is true, for instance, that some small enterprises may not have the same brand awareness among prospective employees as a huge international corporation. However, they are frequently more securely rooted in the areas where they operate. Local sponsorships, regional marketing initiatives, and other outreach efforts may develop meaningful relationships with prospective employees and serve as an effective employee recruitment tool when handled well.
Similarly, a multimillion-dollar training expenditure is unnecessary to cultivate a development culture supporting daily innovation. With the right digital upskilling plan, small organizations may enable their employees to acquire the knowledge and skills required for new and changed positions while also gaining a competitive advantage in employee experience.
Developing a more resilient business
Armed with these competitive advantages in the talent competition, small company executives have the potential to establish a more sustainable organization's foundation.
Success requires more than just attracting qualified candidates and filling critical positions with the right individuals. Businesses with the appropriate workforce strategy will ultimately have a leadership team comprised of individuals with various professional backgrounds from both within and outside the firm. They will examine the firm from multiple perspectives, comprehend its risks thoroughly, see its possibilities, and ultimately execute its strategic initiatives from a position of strength.
Are you interested in discussing your diversity strategy, approach to digital upskilling, or future workforce development? Reach out to initiate communication.
About Jim Woods:
Jim has a passion for accelerating talent across organizations. While this passion has fueled his work in leadership assessment and development, it has crystallized in the area of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Jim's experience spans many industries, including public, finance, consumer, retail, pharma, industrials, and technology. 'Organizational & people agility,' 'design thinking,' and 'digital transformation' are some critical themes Jim works with clients on across the globe.