Help Wanted? Help is on the way!

Recruiting Daily recently took a look at small and mid-size businesses (SMB), the organizations that exist primarily out of the spotlight. Using Gartner’s definition, which looks at the number of employees and annual revenue, Small businesses are organizations with fewer than 100 employees and less than $50 million in annual revenue. Mid-size businesses are those with 100 to 999 employees that make more than $50 million but less than $1 billion in annual revenue.

Given that scope, it’s clear that we’re talking about a massive number of companies. And candidates, to the extent that companies characterized as “small,” employ more than 47 percent of the private workforce in the U.S.

A unique set of challenges
Hiring within the SMB ranges dramatically, with those on the small end recruiting for just a handful of positions at a time while those on the medium end might have to fill 100 or more requisitions. Business needs vary wildly, as does their organizational structure.

A company with only 25 employees might not have much of a talent acquisition presence, with HR accounting for all aspects of the talent lifecycle. Whereas one with 999 employees is more likely to have a dedicated team. Regardless of the difference in size, small and mid-sized businesses deal with similar recruiting challenges, from brand to resources.

We’re going to start by saying the thing that no one wants to admit: we live in a world obsessed with labels.

Research from LinkedIn shows 73 percent of SMBs are challenged by competition from better-known companies, and in turn, 84 percent of SMBs struggle to find enough people to interview and hire.

Underlying this is the issue of resources, or as mentioned earlier, the lack thereof. Establishing an effective process in today’s hiring landscape requires finding the right blend of strategies and solutions to give Talent Acquisition professionals and teams the support they need.

But even that takes time, budget, and energy that SMBs don’t necessarily have an excess of while trying to keep up with business demands. Compound this with a lack of market research and minimal resources, and companies can spend 25 hours a week just trying to search, outreach, vet, and interview candidates.

Next week, we will share Three Important Components to successful recruiting for your business.

BIG 102.1 and Acadiana Broadcasting Group are offering specially priced broadcast and digital advertising for job opportunities here in Acadiana. If you’re looking for help, we want to help you.