The ‘talent war’ Facing SMEs
Published
27
Oct
2014
This year’s ICAEW SME Conference offers an invaluable CPD opportunity for finance professionals working in an SME, and will examine the major obstacles to business growth and offer practical solutions to overcome them.
The economic environment in 2014 is finally looking more favourable for SMEs. However, although business confidence still remains close to an all-time high, the latest ICAEW / Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor indicates a modest slowdown in economic growth later on in 2014, with skills shortages cited as becoming a greater challenge to more companies.
Certainly the main bottlenecks for SMEs are increasingly around skills and staffing. There appears to be a talent war taking place in which SMEs are frequently losing out to larger companies, who have more material resources at their disposal: their expansion frequently involves recruiting staff from SMEs.
An obvious Catch-22 is at play: greater commercial success offers greater means to attract and retain talent, while achieving greater commercial success is reliant on having the aforementioned talent. That said securing the right employees is clearly critical to an organisation’s long-term survival. In the absence of a level playing field, a highly effective HR strategy becomes vital. The SME Conference will offer guidance on best practice in HR and recruitment, training and staff retention, as well as regulation and compliance, business risk, and IT.
The ICEAW is a world leader of the accounting and finance profession and have invited Lotus’ Director, Dr Yvonne Foster to be a part of the panel debate. The event will be held Monday 06 November 2014 at Chartered Accountants' Hall, London EC2R 6EA. To book your place call 01908 248 159.
27 Oct
2014
This year’s ICAEW SME Conference offers an invaluable CPD opportunity for finance professionals working in an SME, and will examine the major obstacles to business growth and offer practical solutions to overcome them.
The economic environment in 2014 is finally looking more favourable for SMEs. However, although business confidence still remains close to an all-time high, the latest ICAEW / Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor indicates a modest slowdown in economic growth later on in 2014, with skills shortages cited as becoming a greater challenge to more companies.
Certainly the main bottlenecks for SMEs are increasingly around skills and staffing. There appears to be a talent war taking place in which SMEs are frequently losing out to larger companies, who have more material resources at their disposal: their expansion frequently involves recruiting staff from SMEs.
An obvious Catch-22 is at play: greater commercial success offers greater means to attract and retain talent, while achieving greater commercial success is reliant on having the aforementioned talent. That said securing the right employees is clearly critical to an organisation’s long-term survival. In the absence of a level playing field, a highly effective HR strategy becomes vital. The SME Conference will offer guidance on best practice in HR and recruitment, training and staff retention, as well as regulation and compliance, business risk, and IT.
The ICEAW is a world leader of the accounting and finance profession and have invited Lotus’ Director, Dr Yvonne Foster to be a part of the panel debate. The event will be held Monday 06 November 2014 at Chartered Accountants' Hall, London EC2R 6EA. To book your place call 01908 248 159.
