【HR Q&A】Talented employees are constantly being poached by large companies. How can small companies retain talent?

2022-08-11 932 views

Content source: “When You Can’t Find People, Retaining Them Matters Even More” event. Speaker: Dr. Lin Chuan, cross-strait HR expert/consultant/lecturer. Compiled by: 104 HR Marketplace

Q: The company is small and has relatively few resources. It cannot compete with large companies in terms of either talent attraction or compensation. Even employees who have been painstakingly trained and brought up to speed may be attracted or poached by large companies, resulting in talent loss.

In the face of these challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises, what can be done to retain talent?

Lin Chuan:

Most Taiwanese companies are small and medium-sized enterprises. Some SME owners or HR professionals believe that, compared with large companies, they lack name recognition, offer lower salaries, and provide less appealing job opportunities. As a result, retaining talent is also very difficult.

I believe the key is to understand what employees feel they need most.

Some people choose SMEs because of their emotional culture. They feel that the boss “treats us very well,” “treats us like family,” and is even “very close to us.” In contrast, because large companies are bigger, management relies on systems, so they are less likely to place special emphasis on emotional connections.

Supporting new employees

Emotional connections alone are not enough. SMEs can also consider whether profit sharing could improve their talent retention rate.

For example, there is a very famous steakhouse in Taichung whose owner takes 50% of the gross profit and distributes it proportionally among the restaurant manager, head chef, front- and back-of-house staff, and others. This makes employees feel that although it is only a small company, they can earn more working here than elsewhere and have greater room for salary growth.

In terms of external equity, companies in the same industry may not be able to offer compensation at the same level as this steakhouse. The owner is willing to share profits, enabling employees to see themselves as owners and to feel that they are working for themselves.

【HR Q&A】Talented employees are constantly being poached by large companies. How can small companies retain talent?

2022-08-11 932 views

Content source: “When You Can’t Find People, Retaining Them Matters Even More” event. Speaker: Dr. Lin Chuan, cross-strait HR expert/consultant/lecturer. Compiled by: 104 HR Marketplace

Q: The company is small and has relatively few resources. It cannot compete with large companies in terms of either talent attraction or compensation. Even employees who have been painstakingly trained and brought up to speed may be attracted or poached by large companies, resulting in talent loss.

In the face of these challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises, what can be done to retain talent?

Lin Chuan:

Most Taiwanese companies are small and medium-sized enterprises. Some SME owners or HR professionals believe that, compared with large companies, they lack name recognition, offer lower salaries, and provide less appealing job opportunities. As a result, retaining talent is also very difficult.

I believe the key is to understand what employees feel they need most.

Some people choose SMEs because of their emotional culture. They feel that the boss “treats us very well,” “treats us like family,” and is even “very close to us.” In contrast, because large companies are bigger, management relies on systems, so they are less likely to place special emphasis on emotional connections.

Supporting new employees

Emotional connections alone are not enough. SMEs can also consider whether profit sharing could improve their talent retention rate.

For example, there is a very famous steakhouse in Taichung whose owner takes 50% of the gross profit and distributes it proportionally among the restaurant manager, head chef, front- and back-of-house staff, and others. This makes employees feel that although it is only a small company, they can earn more working here than elsewhere and have greater room for salary growth.

In terms of external equity, companies in the same industry may not be able to offer compensation at the same level as this steakhouse. The owner is willing to share profits, enabling employees to see themselves as owners and to feel that they are working for themselves.