Winning the War for Talent as a Small Business

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Many small businesses that have or need employees assume the false premise that employees need to come in trained. They feel that it is the employee’s responsibility to train themselves and that their role is to provide the job. One of the most common refrains that these employers espouse is the lack of talent available to them.

Now the talent gap is real. There is a significant gap between potential employees and potential employers because of a skills gap. Much of the top talent that small businesses need are choosing to go to university instead of technical college or into the trades. The perception to these employers is that these potential employees are giving up good careers and that the degrees don’t train employees to do much of anything.

This is true. Degrees from a technical sense don’t really train a person to run a CAD system, or repair and inspect sewer systems. That is not the purpose of a degree. A degree is meant to provide all the key skills that once they HAVE technical training will enhance an employer and provide advantages. And most businesses don’t need degreed employees at all for daily operation. And where degreed talent is required it usually can be purchased from another source for the temporary need. (eg Accounting, Legal, Marketing)

But while there may be a true gap there are still many non degreed employees in the community. Why can’t employers effectively hire from this pool? Many small business owners find it difficult to leave start up mode and move into the role of management. As a solopreneur they essentially have created a job. That job is incredible and most employees would never take on such a job without a lot compensation. The solopreneur has to do the books, market, provide the services, render customer services, and so on. Ironically, rare is the business person who is really good at all the core competencies and that should be what drives the first hires for which hiring a degreed candidate is critical. But aside from production of goods or maybe sales many business owners feel that the roles of customer service, marketing, and office management are not valued and so will continue to do these roles badly and the business limps along.

Let’s present a bolder plan of attack. Growth from a startup to a mid sized company requires the owner coming to terms with the fact that they don’t know it all and need to dispose of roles. The first roles to go should be production. Unless you have a capital funded startup, you will have a limited budget to start with. BEFORE a hire, there has to be preparation. If the budget isn’t there to pay for talent, then the business has an obligation to train. In order to train, a map of what to train must be created.

And this is the first major mistake most owners make. Most owners don’t know what they actually do during the day.(And don’t know if they are doing it well or poorly compared to their peers) So a temporary hire of a process management consultant is critical. Once the potential positions responsibilities, tasks, and outcomes have been documented, (Note documented) then training can be created.( By someone who knows training) Many business owners try to train their own employees and that leads to sub par performance over time. Why? Well in many cases the owner themselves have performed sub par over time themselves. So when they hire and see sub par performance in the workspace, they blame the employee when in fact they themselves have built poor performance into the culture by training poor processes that at scale fail.

Ironically, the small and mid sized business communities did this to themselves. During the last 40 years there has been an all out war on unions and technical colleges in America. Unions as a national concern have not made it easy to root for them due to their political activism. And many owners look at how unions have made it harder for large corporate giants to succeed. Ok granted. But unions were never meant to be used by large corporations effectively. They WERE meant to be used by small and midsized companies. And they bring tremendous value. First, they select and recruit talent. Second, they train upfront and provide continuing education. Third, they set a wage scale that reflects the market. Fourth, in the case of the trades their members come to you with the tools and this limits up front investment. Fifth, these organizations can provide benefits because they have the size to negotiate deals. Finally, many unions will assist small and midsized companies obtain business opportunities that can grow the company. It is in the interest of the union to keep their members employed. There is a price to pay for this help. But if an owner simply doesn’t have the capital or the interest in developing talent. A Union is a great way to get to scale quickly.

Technical colleges are another great way to get to scale as well. First they can train the OWNER in how to effectively run their business. In many cases owners are self trained and have never had access to how a shop should be run for success. Technical colleges give the owner access to talented faculty who may themselves still be in practice!! Second, a technical college will provide trained employees who know how to do the job the way it SHOULD be done to national standards. The owner then need only plug and play. This brings a higher level of competence to the organization. Now the provision of benefits and HR stays with the employer. However, these tasks can easily be performed by outside consultants and businesses.

So they goal here today was to drive home several points. First, the talent gap is real. Second, bridging that talent gap will require using unconventional methods to win the talent war. Finally, maybe it’s not the employees causing the issue so much as the You. As an owner, you are not a victim, and can make choices and decisions now that will ensure growth in the future.