With small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) renowned for personalised service but often constrained by resources, there is a key trait in talent management that can make or break a business.
In a page-turner titled “Family, Village, Tribe, The Evolution of Flight Centre”, author and former employee Mandy Johnson wrote that the company’s desire to remain adaptable and egalitarian from mid-1995 resulted in a company restructure as follows:
This model that encourages its employees to work cohesively but also to strive for results is proof that empowerment is key to sustaining SMEs. With empowerment, ideas can be generated despite facing adversities like wars and global financial crises that threaten every business.
So how can SMEs empower their employees?
“SME business owners need to consider their associates as capital, not as ‘digits’ on their financial statements. They can focus on attracting the right talent instead of standard hiring parameters like education and work experience,” according to Thomas Wai of Talent Plus.
“SME leaders need to demonstrate a strong willingness to mentor and groom their future leaders, be interested in their dreams, partner them in their learning journey, share their experiences with them, and be strategic about talent development. People will stay with you when they find that they have an opportunity to learn and grow here. Be interested in their development and help them to become better,” he said.
Andrew Chan of ACI HR added that some SMEs may not have the luxury of having HR units as business owners often multi-task a myriad of roles and place the HR discipline as low priority.
“Just know that subordinates monitor, magnify, and mimic their leaders’ every move, effectively forming a company culture. As business owners, you need to stay in tune with this relentless attention and use it to your advantage. Success and influence depend on correctly reading those you interact with most frequently so your leadership style and belief is echoed throughout the organisation. What you do will either bolster or undermine the company’s performance and culture,” Chan added.
Leverage associations for resources
The industry associations can be in a position to further assist SMEs. For example, campaigning for better industry recognition to sustain business longevity, which in turn sustains the industry. The industry associations can also look into setting shared resources, such as marketing agencies where SMEs can tap onto professional assistance at a fraction of a cost until the company can form its own internal department.
If members increase communication transparency and ask for help, the industry will improve together. There is also the possibility of working together to form sustainable intellectual property unique to the destination and the industry.
Best way to retain talent
Talent Plus recommends several ways to keep the interest of talent, regardless of their ages:
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