SMEs should include in an HR strategy

1. Employee satisfaction

Make sure you consider how you will measure this (for example, you could look into conducting staff surveys). What mechanisms you will put in place to increase your employee satisfaction levels? These could include continuous performance reviews or appraisals to employee benefits and perks.

2. Training and development

Include a comprehensive plan which clearly outlines how you will train and develop every member of staff. Set aside a training budget which takes into account the varying needs of your employees and levels of seniority. Take a look at our guide to setting up a training plan.

3. What is right for your business, proactive or reactive HR?

Consider whether you want to deal with HR challenges as and when they happen, or whether you need to anticipate and plan for organisational change. This will vary depending on the nature of your business, but often a combined strategy is a good idea to give you peace of mind.

4. Good recruitment

Get the right tools in place to ensure you recruit effectively and follow the correct processes. Getting this right from the very beginning will ensure you recruit the very best people. Don’t go it alone, there are various options open to you from getting external HR consultants (like us) to help, or using specialist recruitment agencies who can vet applications, leaving you to get on with your business (here’s our guide to working with recruitment agencies).

5. Work flexibility

Have you considered offering a flexible working policy? Increasingly, employees are looking for flexible working options, and offering this could give your company the edge over competitors in recruiting top quality staff. According to training organisation Digital Mums, a shocking 70% of women leave the workforce because they find it impossible to combine their career and family life. Recruitment campaign Hire Me My Way claims that “less than 1 in 10 job adverts offer flexible working.”