Employer of Choice recognition
The recent experience of a typical small business, employing fewer than ten staff, in its effort to attract an office all-round person was faced with unexpected challenges in the recession. A listing of the position on a popular website produced 172 responses, of which only 9 met the criteria set out in the advertisement. This experience identified what can be regarded as one of the root causes of our country's low productivity: low skill levels and job instability that prevents employees from accumulating adequate levels of experience in any position previously held. Shortcomings of this nature are accommodated and do not show up under conditions of full employment, but become apparent under more stringent employment conditions. The time consuming demands of trawling through such a large number of applications, interviewing short-listed applicants and checking references in this instance was competently handled in-house. In addition to filling the vacancy, the assignment also identified an outstanding candidate for a position that had been waitlisted for better days. This was a bonus that will provide additional qualifications and expertise to enhance the company's business capability.
The experience created awareness of the scarcity of management resources available to SMEs, which find the cost of involving external HR expertise, which will find an outlet in the formation of the Employer of Choice Foundation. Designed to assist small to medium enterprises with an alternative method to recruit, develop and retain staff, the trust based non-profit entity offers facilities and material to its members to better prepare them for self-sufficiency in the HR area of operations. Facilitated by an experienced human resource professional it presents a new cost efficient method of enabling the average business, employing fewer than 20, to act with confidence and greater certainty of outcome to when it comes to employing staff. Gaining experience in HR practice will inevitably lead to recognition as a workplace of choice that will give the employer an advantage when the employment market returns to normal. Enquiries or expressions of interest can be logged on the e-mail link on this website.
