Employee Retention

Hiring employees is just a start in creating a strong workforce. Next, you have to keep your employees in place to achieve business goals. The pressure is even greater for small businesses, which often compete for talent against larger, well known, organizations with more resources. Both, small and big companies, have advantages and disadvantages - I will try to outline four main differences.

Resources

One of the biggest differences between these two environments is the amount of resources available. Large organizations have deep pockets, and money is committed to attract and retain employees. And it is not just competitive salary with great financial benefits, outstanding health benefits, and pension plans, but availability of up-to-date equipment, expert consultants or support systems, such as legal team or HR department, training, and excellent facilities that meet employee needs. In contrast, small companies do not always have enough capital to pay competitive salaries, not to mention benefits or training. In order to compete small companies might consider providing alluring trade-offs such as shorter workweeks, less travel and work/life balance incentives including telecommuting arrangements and flexible schedule. Offering financial rewards or creating bonus structure where employees can earn an annual or semi-annual bonus, if they meet performance goals, might be an option if company can not afford to pay competitive salaries.

In big organizations job roles and responsibilities are defined. Work roles at small companies are often less specialized allowing employees to wear more hats. It can be put in small company advantage as employees have chance to gain experience in variety of areas, have a better big picture view of operations and feel involved in company achieving its business goals. If company struggles with finances and can't afford training, job enlargement might be a great option for employees gaining new skills.

Structure

When you hear the phrase "big company," word structure immediately comes to mind. Structure in the form of policy manuals, comprehensive job descriptions, HR handbooks, management hierarchies and meeting schedules. At the small company it is rare that a new employee will start on Day 1 with an accurate job description; and if they do, the description is almost always outdated after the first month. There are a distinct lack of policy manuals and work instructions. Small business owners should develop job descriptions as it is essential for success and efficiency of business. It is important for small companies to make a job description practical by keeping it dynamic, functional, current, and also have enough flexibility so individuals can "work outside of the box." Another options small businesses might consider is employee handbook. This is manual that contains an employer's work rules and policies. It can also contain other information that is useful to the employee, such as the business's history, its goals, and its commitment to customer service. Consider some of the