Courtenay HR

SMEs In Talent War

The Times, Appointments - 18 September 2003
By Philip Whiteley

Small and medium sized companies have a chance of winning the recruitment wars despite not being able to offer the best packages. But not all are taking advantage. Professor Richard Scase, author of Britain 2010: The Changing Business Landscape, reports that disillusion with big companies has grown, fuelled in part by failure to honour pensions commitments. "Young people have seen the way their parents have committed to their employers throughout their working life, only to be cast aside through mergers and acquisitions or with insubstantial pensions," says Professor Scase. "They are shying away from what they see as the immoral world of big business."

In his projections of future working patterns, Professor Scase has argued that people will increasingly be working in smaller organisations, and often from home. His hunches are beginning to be supported by headhunters. Search firm Courtenay reports that candidates are increasingly asking for opportunities in smaller, dynamic firms that have opportunities for personal development.

This used to be almost unheard of, says Courtenay director Jane Robson. "Until two or three years ago people wanted a name," she says. "Now, people want an opportunity. They are looking at the total package. " They are saying that it is nice to have a start in a larger organisation and get a good grounding, but quite quickly individuals want to have more control over what they do and how they do it. What smaller firms need to do is pay a fair salary, but also offer them development."

However, many smaller firms have ground to catch up. A survey carried out by Courtenay in conjunction with Professor Scase found that only one third of small and medium-sized employers prioritized investment in people, compared with 60 per cent emphasizing marketing. Yet they still complained of skill shortages.

Professor Scase argues that this is not a "soft" HR issue. Smaller and medium-sized companies will need to attract good people and be innovative, not least because they will shortly be competing with low-cost firms in the new Eastern European countries set to join the EU. The danger for smaller employers is that they will miss out on a rich pool of talent just as the high-flyers have started to take them seriously for the first time. Investment in training of staff looks like a worthy, or long-term consideration, rather than something of immediate commercial benefit. The possibility that it is an attractive part of a package to help recruit high flyers does not seem to have registered yet.

For more information on the results of the research, contact a member of the Courtenay HR team on 0871 222 7616. If you want to comment on the findings, please feel free submit your views via our feedback form.