Balancing recruitment and finances has been one of the largest struggles SMEs have faced throughout 2020. Either it seems that talent acquisition has been pushed back due to uncertainty or SMEs are experiencing exponential growth (especially those within ecommerce) and are struggling to acquire the right talent for their business at a fast enough pace.
Our experience as a SME
As an SME ourselves we are not immune to the impact this has on managing directors. In fact we have sat on both sides of the fence at some point during our 10+ years providing recruitment services.
It was only last year we had strong plans to increase our team size due to growing demand, only for this vision to have been cut short by the events of 2020.
One may argue our team has been through somewhat of a battering this year,. During the first lockdown we had to put our financial brain on over our human one (which is not something we enjoy doing), it meant to protect jobs we had to make the unfortunate decision to make redundancies.
Our team are like a family to us, we share stories about families and get to know each other, and the choice to make redundancies was without doubt one of the most difficult things we have encountered.
Though unfortunate, it was entirely necessary as a SME that our finances were balanced in order to protect the jobs which remained. Whilst we are now operating effectively, it is not difficult for us to see that the removal of these roles has added additional pressure onto our team to pick up extra workloads. But for us enforcing this extra pressure is intended to be a temporary step.
Whilst lockdown 2 has put a halt to any plans for growth this side of 2020, in 2021 onwards (depending on how the market recovers) we fully intend to replace those lost seats. Some of which we are already searching the market for.
Our message to other SMEs
Trust us when we say that we understand you may have your financial brain on right now, but 2021 (and indeed the future) is not that far away.
What does that look like for you?
Tell us about it.
Yes really! We may be a recruitment company (*collective groan*) but at our heart we are an SME, and SMEs help and support each other. By reaching out to us and telling us about your plans for the future we can help break boundaries, we can guide you in the best way to recruit for your business, providing advice, timelines and flexible payment options where necessary.
To you we won’t be a recruiter, we will be your partner, helping to guide your business in the right direction for the future.
