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"Ironically, the ‘gravitational pull’ of regional cities such as Oxford, Reading, Southampton could be a factor for SMEs based more rurally. “So, recruiting people is not an issue, but keeping them can be.”
Simon MacDowall’s company is broadening its international operations and is recruiting in the UK (100 employees) and India, where it already has an office with 45 employees. “We have 10 positions open in Woking and 25 in India. We are finding it much easier to recruit in India.”
in Singapore but recognised it would face challenges with foreign work and employment regulations.
Got a graduate? Beware the corporate poachers
With the Thames Valley home to many major world-class companies, competition for top quality recruitment is high.
Matos sets up Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP), collaborative projects between the University of Reading and industry employing graduates to working inside SMEs to help them develop their businesses. She is currently working with colleagues from universities across the country to raise the profile of KTP to students and graduates, with a focus on SMEs.
“Basically, there is a crisis in recruiting good graduates into a lot of areas.
It’s also
increasingly difficult to recruit from overseas because of the changes in regulations.
Susan Matos
Fortunately, while London is an obvious attraction for graduates, Woking is close enough for new employees to commute out to SFW from their London homes.
“Generally, experienced recruits have worked for smaller organizations in Berkshire, Hampshire or Surrey and want to advance their careers into team leadership and management levels or to work with us within central government. SFW is attracting a good number of people returning from a career break or seeking a better work/life balance and, for example, have the experience but don’t want to commute.”
Barry Anns said du Pré Group, based in Newbury, planned to grow significantly in the next three years, requiring recruitment in sales and operations. “Typically we look for sales sector experience and don’t find recruiting there a problem, but we have struggled recently getting technical resource. Although we are offering what we believe are the right levels of salary, it’s difficult to get the right people.”
Murray queried if Newbury-based Vodafone was a significant competitor for IT and telecoms recruits. Anns replied: “Vodafone doesn’t really affect us. It tends to operate at a different global level. But, it’s an extremely competitive industry. There are probably 300- 400 value-added resellers like us in the region.”
du Pré Group’s software business Double First has increased from £800,000 to £2.5 million turnover in five years and has grown internationally through that period. It planned to recruit in the UK and in its emerging Far East and Middle Eastern markets and has already established a wholly-owned branch
www.businessmag.co.uk
“We are also hearing, particularly with engineering, computing or programming graduates, that large companies are offering their existing graduates bonuses to poach their student friends from other businesses. Those recruited often also get a golden handshake.”
Accordingly, smaller companies, looking to grow through graduate intake were finding it more difficult to gain and retain suitable recruits. “Nationally, we need to get current and new graduates to view SMEs in a more positive light as a good place to work.”
Roundtable members pointed out that corporates were often seen as providing secure jobs, but that was not a certainty in today’s world, and a graduate’s opportunity to influence decision-making and gain wide experience with an SME was likely to be greater than within a corporate.
Taylor wondered if graduate recruitment might be easier for SMEs if they didn’t have to buy expensive exhibition space at university recruitment fairs. Maybe the space could be provided free, with a payment later if the SME took on a graduate, he suggested. “It’s not just the money but the time and resource taken out of their small business.”
Universities might also help by imbuing graduate interviewees with a more traditional view towards ‘a good day’s work for a good rate of pay.’ “I often experience that ‘getting old moment’ when interviewing, because graduates don’t seem to have the same work culture as me.”
Matos said the attraction of large corporates covers a number of factors for graduates. “It’s not just the attraction of London salaries and lifestyle. Taking that jump from university into a company can be a major step. So, if graduates can get into that world of work through a recruitment programme along with other graduates that is a great transitional support. We need to address this problem
because it is getting harder to attract talent.”
“It’s another learning process for graduates – exposing them to the businessworld so when they leave university looking for their first job they are thinking of SMEs as well as the big company names.”
Taylor agreed that getting more students ready for the pressures of work through transitional programmes, placements and internships would be very beneficial.
It’s not just students, SMEs need to learn too
“It’s an education piece: getting students thinking about working with an SME, and getting more SMEs thinking about taking on graduates.” said Susan Elliott.
From her experience working with small businesses at VitalSix it was clear that SMEs and graduates faced similar challenges of starting afresh, and both needed guidance.
“Ordinarily we might focus on the owners and managers of an SME but perhaps there are different business needs in other parts of the employment base.”
Barry Potter pointed out: “There was a time when SMEs would take on graduates who would end up working long hours but today, flexible benefit packages, training programmes, career progression structures, mentoring – all of these things are needed to attract and retain the right people.”
Simon MacDowall
Greater understanding might be possible through joint networking activities and peer group communication, suggested Elliott, who promised to raise the graduate recruitment and retention problems with the new Thames Valley Berkshire LEP Business Growth Hub that VitalSix is delivering for the LEP.
Internships and work placements
Speaking from company experience, Minchin said internships provided “an incredible route to recruitment for small businesses.
“It’s safe and fair because over three months the intern gets to be more employable and the SME gets a good level of work at an acceptable
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MAY 2014
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