Full-Service HR

Effective Ways to Help Your Small Business Grow

Ella Baker
Effective Ways to Help Your Small Business Grow
Reading time 6 Mins
Published on Jul 23
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An HR Perspective

Few business owners will ever say of their small company, “Our goal is to remain small.” You are eager to see growth in your businesses to maximize the blood, sweat, and tears you’ve invested in starting their business. The central component of growing your company: your workers. Your employees are the backbone of your business. More than that, a strong workforce can be key to helping your small business achieve sustained growth and success. Planning, effective hiring and retention tactics, and good communication are the keys to cultivating human resources strategies that will help you achieve your business goals.

Take action on carefully laid plans

Strategic planning is important to the success of any business. Without it, you might be left floundering around for inspiration to strike or find yourself reacting to situations after they’ve damaged your business. Effective planning sets you, your staff, and your business up for success – especially when you begin to act on those plans.

Strategic planning allows your company to be proactive in drafting solutions to situations rather than reactive to problems. When combined with a well-thought out succession plan, employee handbook, and productivity planning, your strategic plan provides a roadmap for you and your staff to follow.

Just as important as developing these plans is acting upon them. Companies experiencing successful growth are able to act quickly and respond to changes in the market faster because of their planning. Putting your plans into action also means being willing to revisit them as situations and players change. Implementing effective meeting strategies that encourage real-time communication, idea sharing, and feedback to projects will make your company more agile and put your business miles ahead of the competition.

Develop solid recruitment strategies

Part of your strategic planning should be developing solid recruitment strategies for attaining new talent. Securing the best job seekers for your team will help you achieve the growth you want for your company. Crafting a solid recruitment strategy will allow you to get the attention of the talent you need to meet your goals.

To be sure that your recruitment strategy will help you gain the growth you seek, you’ll want to give special attention to carefully defining roles and responsibilities to go along with your detailed job descriptions and postings. Help potential candidates understand how they will fit into the framework of your company and work to meet growth goals by creating detailed job postings that define these items. Video job postings are one of the creative strategies that will simultaneously allow you to capture the interest of candidates while giving them an inside look into the culture of your company and the people who work there.

Once you’ve secured applications, it’s time to move on to the hiring phase. Seek talent that not only demonstrates the skills, experience, and education you require but also that has a demonstrable aptitude for professional development and taking advantage of growth opportunities extended to them. Advanced planning will allow you time to exercise patience and wait for the right person, rather than settling. Additionally, empowering your team with responsibility and authority gives them a stake in the company’s growth goals and inspires loyalty.

Growth is heavily impacted by the talent you are able to attract. Crafting a strategy that allows you to get the attention of top applicants will help you get the employees you need to meet the challenges and responsibilities of growing your company.

Retain talent

Once you’ve managed to secure the players you need to achieve the growth you desire, retaining that talent becomes your next priority. Don’t let carefully crafted recruiting strategies go to waste by not implementing a plan to retain your best employees long-term.

Up your employee engagement and loyalty game by recognizing and celebrating the talent you have rather than always filling management positions from outside the company. Don’t let employees languish in the same positions. Offer professional development opportunities, coaching sessions, and educational assistance whenever possible. Empower employees to make decisions and don’t micromanage. Be honest with your employees about what you expect of them and their work. Collaborate with your employees to develop their annual performance review and set expectations together and try to give consistent feedback as often as possible.

Encourage employees to develop relationships built on respect and acknowledgment of work well done. Allow employees to have casual days or encourage them to decorate their workspace with personal items or photographs. Not only will this foster a greater sense of loyalty to the company, but you’ll also be telling your employees that they are your most important asset.

Communication is key

In a small business with relatively few employees it can easy to believe that everyone knows the game plan or is on the same page. Don’t make the mistake of assuming your team knows the direction or tasks needed to be completed to meet your business growth goals. Effective communication is key to the success of any business – no matter the size.

Your employees should feel comfortable coming to you with issues or concerns as they arise, just as you should feel comfortable going to an employee when there is an issue or work that should be celebrated. Open door policies, non-punishment for whistleblowers, and asking employees for suggestions to improve your business are all proven strategies for creating a more open and honest work environment and loyal employee base.

Consider implementing regular, productive meetings to convey to every member of your team the current aims and goals of the company, while also demonstrating how each employee fits into those plans. Solicit and listen to the feedback from your workers. Sometimes the best ideas for growth come from those on the front lines of the day-to-day operation of your business.

Sheakley and the growth of your company

You need to focus on what you know best – running your business. Crafting HR strategies that allow you to meet your growth goals can be time-consuming and complicated. Let Sheakley’s Professional Employer Organization (PEO) and Human Resources Outsourcing professionals lend a hand to help you develop the best HR plans to aid the continued growth of your business. Unlike a human resources advisor or consultant, the co-employment relationship between Sheakley and client companies gives Sheakley skin in the game when it comes to helping you meet your growth needs.

Schedule your free consultation with a Sheakley HR expert today. Stay up-to-date on all things Sheakley by subscribing to our blog and following us on social media. Join in the discussion by commenting below.


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