- 41% of SMEs feel one of the biggest obstacles to growth is the ability and resources to employ the right people.
- Only 42% of SMEs have a HR department.
- 68% feel they are average or worse than average, when it comes to hiring staff.
- 78% have basic or no knowledge of employment law.
- 45% would change the work visa regime to make it easier for skilled overseas candidates to work in Ireland.
Only 38% of Irish SMEs believe they can compete with multinationals when recruiting skilled staff, according to a new joint survey by Hays, Ireland’s leading specialist recruitment company and ISME.
Despite Irish SMEs currently accounting for over 70% of the private sector workforce and 50% of the national turnover, many feel ill-equipped or undervalue themselves when competing with larger employers for the best talent. The survey partly attributes this to absence of a dedicated HR function, lack of training in hiring staff and little or no understanding of employment law amongst SMEs.
The results of the survey were officially published this morning at an event hosted by Hays at Chartered Accountants Ireland.
The new report, entitled ‘Resourcing for Growth’, polled 563 SME employers in Ireland, gathering insights into market confidence, potential obstacles to growth, recruiting methods and requirements amongst the sector.
Of the SMEs surveyed, 81% believe recruitment is an important part of their business strategy, and 75% are more confident now than 12 months ago about their company’s potential for growth.
Despite this optimism, 41% of respondents feel one of the biggest obstacles to growth is the ability and resources to recruit the right staff in an increasingly competitive market. Two thirds of SMEs have not received training around hiring staff and 78% have little or no knowledge of employment law.
The report recommends greater training support for SMEs to help them with recruitment and attraction strategies.
In response Hays has developed a seven step online toolkit, called The Recruitment Roadmap. It guides employers through all stages of the recruitment process from planning the strategy to on-boarding new employees.
In addition, Hays will be demonstrating their toolkit as part of ISME’s upcoming nationwide briefing sessions, highlighting the importance of the key elements of the process that are often overlooked by SMEs when recruiting.
Richard Eardley, Managing Director of Hays Ireland, said: “There is no doubt that there is a chasm in the depth of resources between multinationals and SMES.
However, we should not undervalue what SMEs can offer to the top candidates. There are many advantages to working in smaller businesses such as the environment, the range of work you are involved in and ability to directly impact on results.
“Irish SMEs are the unsung heroes of the economic revival and central to future national growth. It is important that we equip them with the necessary skills, resources and confidence to better compete with multinationals for the very best candidates. The creation of the Hays Recruitment Roadmap and the ISME Roadshow series are the first steps towards this.
Commenting at the launch, ISME CEO Mark Fielding said, “We in ISME are pleased to collaborate with Hays in their analysis of the recruitment needs of Irish SMEs. Small businesses are far more reliant on their staff than their big business counterparts; they cannot afford to make costly hiring mistakes. That is why we at ISME believe this report and recruitment toolkit for SMEs will be an excellent resource for owner-managers who are looking to expand their workforce”.
To find out more about Hays, please visit www.hays.ie
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About Hays Recruitment
Hays is the leading global specialist recruitment group, and the market leader in the UK and Australia. We are the experts in recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people across a wide range of specialised industries and professions. We operate across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments.