The next couple of years look like they will be exciting ones for UK SMEs. Investors are talking about a boom period of economic growth. But the economic cost of COVID-19 will need to be addressed by politicians and the bills settled eventually. My sense is that entrepreneurial businesses will adapt well to meet the challenges and opportunities that come post-pandemic. Rewards will be there for entrepreneurs who choose to take their businesses on a growth path.
Organising for growth and how I can help
For many SMEs, growth means adding people to the team. I always recommend before recruiting to reflect and evaluate on how you can improve the way you engage and manage your people. This is important throughout the employment lifecycle, starting with attraction through to exit. The aim is a positive environment for talented people to flourish and make a telling contribution to the growth and success of your business.
Here are some of the ways, I can help you to get organised for success:
1 – A strong employment brand
A strong employment brand is as important in the recruitment market as a business brand is in your client markets. When I work with CEOs on growth strategy, this is where I start. I help to present your business to candidates in a way that is both appealing and authentic. We will look at the outcome of past recruitment including candidate/new joiner experiences to help us understand expectations versus reality. If people leave within a year of joining, that is costly and disruptive and indicates you were not the employer people expected you to be.
An employment brand extols the values, culture and ethics of your business. They are important elements in how people (millennials especially) assess the suitability of you as a potential employer, alongside the role they are applying for.
We will also look at what you are offering to your ideal candidates. This is known as the Employee Value Proposition (EVP). EVP is the mix of the quality of the roles you are offering, the working environment, how you reward your people and the benefits you provide. We will assess if you are competitive in your marketplace for talent. Are you making the most of your available budget by offering the right salaries and compelling, yet affordable benefits?
2 – An organisational structure that supports growth
In my experience a successful SME will have a robust and dynamic operating model. The organisational structure will be aligned completely to the growth path. A well designed people management structure facilitates business effectiveness, resilience and collaboration without taking away the flexibility and agility that made your business successful in the first place.
I say to CEOs and entrepreneurs that structure is not an inhibitor to development. Having the right structure in place helps a business to:
- Ensure they have the key skills they need for their business to succeed.
- Identify the gaps and know where they need to invest for the future.
- Establish specialist functions who collaborate and make full use of their skills and experiences.
- Create clear and manageable reporting structures with minimal hierarchy.
- Define attractive and realistic roles.
- Drive performance by setting clear expectations and opportunities for personal growth.
- See readily how their people are performing and who needs support or training.
- Reduce conflict and ambiguity, duplication of effort and increase efficiencies.
The structure needs to reinforce the values and culture of a business whilst fostering great working relationships. Roles that are defined well do not pigeon-hole people or limit their ambition to develop, learn or take measured risks. Role descriptions provide context and set expectations. This is so people know when they have done a really good job or how high performers can exceed expectations. Well defined roles helps to set SMART objectives that show a clear line of sight between individual objectives and the overall objective of the business.
3 – Leadership and management
People leading change need a vision and an ability to inspire others. Entrepreneurs tend to have these characteristics by nature. People leading growth must share their vision. In my experience, when planning for growth, you will need to be confident that you can delegate more responsibility to your leadership team and that they will rise to the challenge. Do you have a diverse skill set and does your leadership team have the right level of management skills to build trusting relationships, drive performance, confront obstacles and have difficult conversations when necessary? A reputable employer has to have great leaders and we all know that people stay or leave because of their managers rather than the company.
In some cases, you may have loyal leaders who have already made a huge contribution to your business. They have the right attitude, but perhaps lack people management skills and experience. I can help you assess how strong your leadership team is and devise development plans if required. I provide one-to-one coaching and identify skill gaps. If required I can help you to recruit new leaders to strengthen your team. As the CEO, you can then afford to step back and let your leaders do their job.
4 – Recruitment and selection
Do you have the right skills in your business to recruit and select the right people? There is always an element of risk when it comes to selecting the right candidates. But once you have a robust organisation structure and clear roles, you will be able to minimise this risk by using selection methods that identify diverse skilled candidates who are the right fit for your business. I strongly believe that growing SME’s should not fall into the trap of recruiting more of the same type of people, which in itself is discriminatory. Recruitment should be about selecting people who will enrich, challenge and propel your business to the next level. I offer practical tips, hands-on support and training to avoid bias in recruitment. I help to attract the right applicants, improve the candidate experience and make better hiring decisions.
5 – Legacy issues
There may be some barriers to growth that exist within the current business structure. Some of these barriers maybe people and need to be addressed. A typical example is performance issues that have not been dealt with and have now become the norm. Or relationships have broken down and there is conflict. There may be a disconnect between how the business has grown and personal ambition. This is quite natural but has to be brought to an amicable resolution. I can help you to resolve these matters so you move forward and in most cases find a win-win solution. Read more about managing people.
6 – Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
In general, successful entrepreneurs recognise how important diversity and inclusion is to innovation and business performance. DEI is not a new trend and to me it is based on three core principles:
- Treat people fairly and with respect, don’t tolerate those who don’t.
- Understand and celebrate uniqueness whilst providing a sense of belonging.
- Never underestimate the commercial value of diversity and inclusion. Diversity brings new customers, markets and ideas. Inclusion will improve loyalty and enhance performance.
I can help you apply these principles to everything you do as an employer and a leader of people. For example, I will provide you with tips and frameworks that minimise unconscious bias, introduce practices that drive inclusion and a sense of belonging and ensure you are not falling short on legislation.
7 – Technology
I have always been an advocate of using cost effective technology to facilitate people-related processes whilst increasing productivity and profit. COVID-19 has no doubt elevated the role of technology in the workplace. Technology will continue to facilitate flexible and remote working and the right tech can enhance wellbeing, resilience and job satisfaction. Technology is not just about storing employee data and checking who is off sick or on holiday. I help you to select and implement scalable and affordable technology that will enhance the candidate/employee experience and your employer brand. These solutions will also provide you with valuable insights to make informed decisions and give your leaders the tools to be effective managers with time freed up to build great working relationships.
8 – HR Infrastructure
A growing SME needs to have an effective HR infrastructure to support the business and its people. By this I mean: Do you have or have access to the right level of HR skills and experience for now and in the future? A growing SME reaches a stage when they will have to make these decisions depending on the size of the business, location and existing skill sets. I can help you to assess what you need and the best way to engage those skills and products whether it means working with external providers, building your in-house capability or a blend of the two.
9 – Get the basics right
Finally, have you got all the basics in place? Do you have the right policies, procedures, contracts of employment etc? These documents are important, and they must align with current legislation and latest best practice (that’s a given), but also to the ethos and culture of a business. I always look to simplify many of these documents whilst ensuring they protect your business and add real value to your people.
Contact me
These growth planning steps are a proven methodology. It sets an SME business up to recruit the best people into roles they can settle into quickly and make an impact from the day they arrive.